GeoCities RIP

22 Oct
2009

This post was written by Admin

Most people will smile at the memory of the ‘dark days’ of the 1990s internet. In 1999, GeoCities was the third most popular site – behind AOL and Yahoo! It was originally set up as a hosting company by Beverly Hills Internet in 1994, and developed a series of neighbourhoods including “Colosseum”, “Hollywoods”, “RodeoDrive”, “SunsetStrip”, “WallStreet”, and “West Hollywood”.

In January 1999 it was purchased by Yahoo for $3.57 billion in stock, just before the DotCom Bubble burst. From mid 1999 onward it became increasingly unpopular due to its basic functions, Yahoo Advertising, terms of service, neighbourhoods replacement and web designers opting for personal hosting and creative website designs.

By 2001 GeoCities was losing both money and popularity, so it came as no surprise when it saw a massive 24% drop in visitors in the 12 months leading up to March 2009. Sadly GeoCities is finally due to close on the 26th October 2009. In my time surfing the internet I have come across many scary and interestingly decorated websites, most of them emanating from Yahoo! GeoCities. This hotbed of creativity will be missed, but I am sure it will be replaced by a new flurry of 2.0 web developers and their unique take on web site experiences.

Adam surprised the team at FirstFound and let us all know that he once had a GeoCities account which he used to help avid WWF and Wrestling fans recreate iconic wrestling moves through online role play. Amongst much mirth and amusement we are now glad these “dark days” in Adam’s experience of the internet have been replaced by much happier and healthier pastimes!

Share and Enjoy:

In: Technology
Tags: 1990s, geocities, Internet, websites, Yahoo!

6 Responses to GeoCities RIP

Andrew

October 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 am

It’s been years, probably well over five years, since I visited a GeoCities page. I seem to remember they were always swamped with adverts and popups. If I ever saw a GeoCities page in search results, I pretty much avoided it.

Toni Anicic

October 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 am

I think one of my first sites was on GeoCities… oh memories…

Roger Davies

October 22nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Is it wrong to yearn after the Internet of old? One guilty pleasure I sometimes indulge in, involves going to the Way Back When Machine, picking an age-old popular site I remember using a lot, then following the links from one popular site to the next until I crawl outside of archive.org cache.

If you stick to popular routes, follow popular links you can usually navigate a series of sites, and it really makes me feel nostalgic. Is this wrong?

Michelle

October 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm

The spinning gifs, decorative backgrounds, and garish design were eye watering to say the least. Just when I think we have moved on to web design 2.0, another website pop up and reminds me of the hidious designs that are unique to GeoCities! Some designers are still clinging on to nostala of the 1990′s!