Byrner
08-25-2009, 12:48 AM
In the midst of the present technological boom, there are many stories of success, fame and fortune. But there are also stories of total failure, from clearly absurd ideas to websites apparently "worth millions" that do not generate a penny....
1. Twitter (2006 - present)
Current darling of the faddish world of technology, Twitter is a free social networking service, that allows users to send and read each other’s updates, such as “I’m now in the shower”, “I’m now at my local Barclays bank withdrawing all the money from my account” or “I’m leaving my house for the next ten days”… Making it a must read for burglars. It has about 55 million visits every month, although only 40 per cent of users are retained, and receives an inordinate amount of media attention. But despite this, the company has yet to make a single penny.
2. Friends Reunited (2000 - present)
This social networking website had 15 million members in 2005, when it was bought by ITV for £120 million. However, the site started to decline in 2007 with a growth of just 1.2 per cent compared to Facebook's traffic increase of 2393 per cent. The fees to use certain services have been considered the main cause of its failure. ITV is now selling Friends Reunited, which is thought to be worth only a third of of the original purchase cost.
3. TheGlobe.com (1994 – 2007)
Back in 1999, the TheGlobe.com's CEO was held as an example of the excesses of the new wave of young and overnight dot.com millionaires. But in 2006 the social networking site was sued after bosses sent spam to MySpace.com users. Following a ruling against the company by the California court, the end was inevitable.
4. Kozmo.com (1998-2001)
Kozmo was a service that allowed people to order a huge variety of products, from films to snack food, and have them delivered for free in the space of an hour. But the delivery service, which was one of its major attractions, became the prime reason for its failure. The site was unsustainable and its closure left 1,100 unemployed.
5. Flooz.com (1998 - 2001)
Promoted by Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg, Flooz was an online currency. People would buy a certain amount of Flooz, and then they could spend it in specified retail companies. Flooz raised $35 million from investors before it went bankrupt in 2001 and all unused Flooz credits became worthless and non-refundable.
6. Beenz.com (1999 – 2001)
Flooz.com's competitor Beenz was also an online currency. Beenz raised an astonishing $100 million from companies such as Oracle and Vivendi Universal, but went bankrupt in 2001.
7. Boo.com (1998-2000)
Boo.com was an online fashion store founded in the UK. The website relied greatly on JavaScript and Flash, making it very slow to load. Boo marketed itself as an international company but then faced issues in dealing with languages, tax structures, and pricing in the countries they were targeting. Sales never reached the expected targets and Boo went bankrupt in May 2000.
8. MVP.com (1999-2000)
MVP sold sport clothes and equipment and was backed by sports stars Michael Jordan, John Elway, and Wayne Gretzky. MVP signed an $85 million, four-year contract with CBS - but one year later CBS ended the agreement due to MPV failing to pay the network the previously agreed $10 million. It was the end for MPV, and CBS’s online affiliate SportsLine.com soon took over.
9. Kibu.com (1999-2000)
This website was an online community aimed at teenage girls. Kibu closed down just 46 days after a lavish launch party, despite $22 million from high-profile investors such as Jim Clark of Netscape fame. Kibu's bosses said: “Kibu’s timing in financial markets could not have been worse”.
10. GeoCities (1994 - 2009)
This service allowed users to create a website of their own. It started off as websites for places - such as www.geocities.com/southbeach - but eventually users created websites for everything, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Titanic, the film. In 1999, GeoCities was acquired by Yahoo for $3.57 billion - but it has become outdated and Yahoo is closing the service by the end of this year.
Source: http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/07/the-10-biggest-dot-com-disasters.html#c6a00d8341c094053ef0120a518bcb8970b
1. Twitter (2006 - present)
Current darling of the faddish world of technology, Twitter is a free social networking service, that allows users to send and read each other’s updates, such as “I’m now in the shower”, “I’m now at my local Barclays bank withdrawing all the money from my account” or “I’m leaving my house for the next ten days”… Making it a must read for burglars. It has about 55 million visits every month, although only 40 per cent of users are retained, and receives an inordinate amount of media attention. But despite this, the company has yet to make a single penny.
2. Friends Reunited (2000 - present)
This social networking website had 15 million members in 2005, when it was bought by ITV for £120 million. However, the site started to decline in 2007 with a growth of just 1.2 per cent compared to Facebook's traffic increase of 2393 per cent. The fees to use certain services have been considered the main cause of its failure. ITV is now selling Friends Reunited, which is thought to be worth only a third of of the original purchase cost.
3. TheGlobe.com (1994 – 2007)
Back in 1999, the TheGlobe.com's CEO was held as an example of the excesses of the new wave of young and overnight dot.com millionaires. But in 2006 the social networking site was sued after bosses sent spam to MySpace.com users. Following a ruling against the company by the California court, the end was inevitable.
4. Kozmo.com (1998-2001)
Kozmo was a service that allowed people to order a huge variety of products, from films to snack food, and have them delivered for free in the space of an hour. But the delivery service, which was one of its major attractions, became the prime reason for its failure. The site was unsustainable and its closure left 1,100 unemployed.
5. Flooz.com (1998 - 2001)
Promoted by Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg, Flooz was an online currency. People would buy a certain amount of Flooz, and then they could spend it in specified retail companies. Flooz raised $35 million from investors before it went bankrupt in 2001 and all unused Flooz credits became worthless and non-refundable.
6. Beenz.com (1999 – 2001)
Flooz.com's competitor Beenz was also an online currency. Beenz raised an astonishing $100 million from companies such as Oracle and Vivendi Universal, but went bankrupt in 2001.
7. Boo.com (1998-2000)
Boo.com was an online fashion store founded in the UK. The website relied greatly on JavaScript and Flash, making it very slow to load. Boo marketed itself as an international company but then faced issues in dealing with languages, tax structures, and pricing in the countries they were targeting. Sales never reached the expected targets and Boo went bankrupt in May 2000.
8. MVP.com (1999-2000)
MVP sold sport clothes and equipment and was backed by sports stars Michael Jordan, John Elway, and Wayne Gretzky. MVP signed an $85 million, four-year contract with CBS - but one year later CBS ended the agreement due to MPV failing to pay the network the previously agreed $10 million. It was the end for MPV, and CBS’s online affiliate SportsLine.com soon took over.
9. Kibu.com (1999-2000)
This website was an online community aimed at teenage girls. Kibu closed down just 46 days after a lavish launch party, despite $22 million from high-profile investors such as Jim Clark of Netscape fame. Kibu's bosses said: “Kibu’s timing in financial markets could not have been worse”.
10. GeoCities (1994 - 2009)
This service allowed users to create a website of their own. It started off as websites for places - such as www.geocities.com/southbeach - but eventually users created websites for everything, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Titanic, the film. In 1999, GeoCities was acquired by Yahoo for $3.57 billion - but it has become outdated and Yahoo is closing the service by the end of this year.
Source: http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/07/the-10-biggest-dot-com-disasters.html#c6a00d8341c094053ef0120a518bcb8970b