10 Web 2.0 Ideas that Failed

The Web is an extremely fickle place. A Web service can be hot today, and dead in the water tomorrow. While there's no true science for determining exactly what makes one stick while another languishes, there's a lot to be learned after one fails. Considering a startup? Here are 10 recent failures to add to your case studies.

How Many Calendars Do We Need?
After the hype around RSS (really simply syndication, which makes it easy to subscribe to blogs and websites through a reader or your Google or Yahoo start page), RSSCalendar launched to enable the same type of functionality, including easily sharing your Outlook calendar with others. But, with calendars already built into Windows and Mac OS, and Google's calendar just a keystroke away, it's hard to imagine why you'd need another. In June, 2007, the company called it quits and auctioned itself off on eBay for $50,000. It was later purchased by Lookout Software.

Lesson Learned: If people aren't ready for RSS -- both Forrester and Pew report that only 5% to 6% of the U.S. population actually use it -- then they're not ready for an RSS calendar.

A Case Against HyperLocal Content, Sort of
MyKinda launched last September as an Eastern European country-specific blog network, covering business, politics, culture, lifestyle, science and technology in local languages and some English translations. The site failed to draw in enough interest or advertising revenue. Eventually it started falling behind in payments to writers and ended up folding in February.

Lesson Learned: It's expensive to acquire good niche content, especially if you don't already have the site visitors to earn advertising revenue from.

It’s Tough to Beat Craigslist
Microsoft jumped into Craigslist's pool and realized it couldn't keep its head above water. Launched in 2006 as a new free listings service, Windows Live Expo, will be discontinued on July 31. Its draw was enabling users to buy and sell merchandise, discover local events, find new jobs, or find a place to live. Products on Expo were listed by postal code, offering users the option to search for items within a 25-mile radius of their location. Even with its services being tied into other Microsoft products, like the ability to limit listings to e-mail or IM contacts, the site never came close to the recognition and popularity of Craigslist.

Lesson Learned: If you’re going to take on a well-established competitor, you better offer something special.

Even Shy People Would Rather Go Out
MingleNow promoted itself as a virtual nightclub meant to help wallflowers feel a little more at ease and socialize online. Founded by BlueLithium in 2005, and later bought by Yahoo!, the community enabled users to connect with others who frequented the same venues. Social networks, however, have never truly been Yahoo!'s strong suit. The company previously dismissed another social network, Mixd, realizing it was time to start letting go of dead weight.

Lesson Learned: Yahoo! doesn't have the wherewithal to focus on another social network -- it already has enough. Besides it acquired BlueLithium for its advertising network.

Photos are for Sharing
Launched in October 2006, ProtectMyPhotos, an online photo back-up site actually made it past the one-year-mark, closing down by December 2007. The site allowed users to upload their photos to back them up online, either saving hard drive space, or keeping them safe should a horrific event happen to their computer. An additional feature offered was photo restoration, but this was already available on other well-known photo websites (i.e. Snapfish) and at most drug stores, which offer online photo production as well. Plus, with the popularity of Flickr and Google's Picasa, which offer social networking, ProtectMyPhotos didn't really stand out from the crowd.

Lesson Learned: The online media storage space is already overcrowded, and if your competitors go social, you probably have to go social.

The GPS of Instant Messaging
One of the first location-aware instant messaging platforms, Meetro had quite an edge over other IM platforms, and provided compatibility with the most popular messaging platforms, including AIM and ICQ. The program would determine the user’s physical location and inform the user of contacts in the same vicinity. However, the application was never 100% in determining correct location, and the site shutdown in May due to technical issues and the team's loss of interest. The company's founder, Paul Bragiel, said, "the service simply wasn’t that interesting." Bragiel also told TechCrunch, "People (myself included) just felt beat up. We knew that fixing these issues would involve a complete rearchitecturing of the code, and people just weren’t excited about the idea enough anymore to do it right."