This article comes directly from Stan Schroeder November 27, 2008 at his site:
http://mashable.com/2008/11/27/lycos-europe-shut-down-recession/
This is what Stan had to state:
“Remember Lycos? It was once an unavoidable name on par with the Facebooks and the Twitters of the current world, but things change fast on the Internet. Its European arm, Lycos Europe, is shutting down after being unable to return to the path of profitability and/or find a buyer.
The company, consisting of a web portal and web hosting business, will liquidate its assets and return around 50 million euros to the shareholders. However, 500 to 700 people will lose their jobs. The US-based Lycos Inc. is a different company and is not directly affected by the demise of Lycos Europe, but it’s also a far cry from its glory days when its front page was the most visited portal on the web.
One has to wonder, however, how many old giants will fall prey to the recession (which, by the way, doesn’t show signs of loosening its grip on the US economy)? Rewind back 7 or 8 years ago from now; the names that ruled the Internet are either far from profitable, or nowhere to be seen: HotBot (pretty much just a name now), Altavista, Napster. Why, you can even throw inYahoo in there, because although it’s still huge as far as web brands go, things aren’t looking good for it either.
The fact is, the recession won’t be kind even to companies that are making money. Companies that are losing money – especially old, tired web companies that have been losing money for quite some time – will be sweeped off the charts very fast.”
I have to agree with his last paragraph. In this fast paced and ever changing world, you really have to be “in the know.” Time and tide waits for noone.
