Yahoo closing GeoCities
This brings back memories. I was surprised that GeoCities is still around.
Yahoo to close GeoCities this year
The Internet company’s decision to shut down its free website-design service will close the books on a $3-billion acquisition it made in 1999.
Bloomberg News
April 24, 2009
Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it would shut down its GeoCities free Web-hosting service after paying about $3 billion for the unit in 1999.
GeoCities isn’t accepting new accounts and will close later this year, Yahoo said. GeoCities, Yahoo’s second-biggest acquisition behind Broadcast.com Inc., lets users design personal websites to show off photos, promote local clubs or publicize business services.
Chief Executive Carol Bartz is trimming costs as Yahoo copes with a slowing online-advertising market. The company said this week it will cut about 700 jobs, or 5% of the total, after eliminating about 1,600 in the fourth quarter.
Yahoo pointed GeoCities users to its paid Web-hosting service. The company will give users more details on saving GeoCities’ data later this year.
U.S. visitors to GeoCities dropped 25% to 12 million in March from the year-ago period, according to research firm ComScore Inc. in Reston, Va.
Other services Yahoo has closed include travel-search site FareChase and online storage service Briefcase.
Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., rose 7 cents to $14.55
GeoCities was where I first got a taste of web design. I taught myself html using WebTv which is now known as MSNtv. I created my first personal homepage at GeoCities back in 1999. I eventually transferred my site to a paid hosting service. After I bought my first computer in 2000 working on my webpage became much easier.
Anyway if your’e looking for a really nice paid web hosting site for your personal homepage or business check out Lunarpages. I have two websites there.
