Lycos
Encyclopedia
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine
and web portal
established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.
that began as a research project by Michael Loren Mauldin
of Carnegie Mellon University's
main Pittsburgh campus in 1994. Lycos Inc. was formed with approximately US $2 million in venture capital
funding from CMGI
. Bob Davis became the CEO and first employee of the new company in 1995. After unsuccessfully attempting to turn the business into a software company selling an enterprise version of the search software, Davis concentrated on building the company into an advertising-supported web portal
. Lycos enjoyed several years of growth during the 1990s and became the most visited online destination in the world in 1999, with a global presence in more than 40 countries.
In 1996, the company completed the fastest IPO from inception to offering in NASDAQ
history. In 1997, it became one of the first profitable internet businesses in the world. In 1998, Lycos paid $58 million for Tripod
in an attempt to "break into the portal market." Over the course of the next few years, Lycos acquired nearly two dozen internet brands including Gamesville
, WhoWhere, Wired Digital
(eventually sold to Wired
), Quote.com, Angelfire
, Matchmaker.com
and Raging Bull.
Lycos Europe
was a joint venture between Lycos and the Bertelsmann
transnational media corporation, but it has always been a distinct corporate entity. Although Lycos Europe remains the largest of Lycos's overseas ventures, several other companies also entered into joint venture agreements including Lycos Canada, Lycos Korea and Lycos Asia.
Near the peak of the internet bubble in May 2000, Lycos announced its intent to be acquired by Terra Networks, the internet arm of the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica
, for $5.4 billion. The acquisition price represented a return of nearly 3000 times the company's initial venture capital investment and about 20 times its initial public offering valuation. The transaction closed in October 2000 and the merged company was renamed Terra Lycos, although the Lycos brand continued to be used in the United States. Overseas, the company continued to be known as Terra Networks. Davis left the company shortly after the merger was completed to join Highland Capital Partners
, a venture capital fund where he now serves as a managing general partner and concentrates on internet investments.
On August 2, 2004, Terra announced that it was selling Lycos to Seoul
, South Korea
-based Daum Communications Corporation for $95.4 million in cash, less than 2% of Terra's initial multi-billion dollar investment. In October 2004, the transaction closed and the company name was changed back to Lycos Inc. The remaining half of the business owned by Terra was subsequently reacquired by Telefónica.
Under new ownership, Lycos began to refocus its strategy. In 2005, the company moved away from a search-centric portal and toward a community destination for broadband entertainment content. With a new management team in place, Lycos also began divesting properties that were not core to its new strategy. In July 2006, Wired News
, which had been part of Lycos since the purchase of Wired Digital in 1998, was sold to Condé Nast Publications
and re-merged with Wired Magazine
. The Lycos Finance division, best known for Quote.com
and Raging Bull.com, was sold to FT Interactive Data Corporation in February 2006, while its online dating site, Matchmaker.com
, was sold to Date.com. In 2006, Lycos regained ownership of the Lycos trademark from Carnegie Mellon University.
During 2006, Lycos introduced several media services, including Lycos Phone which combined video chat, real-time video on demand, and an MP3 player. In August of the same year, a new version of Lycos Mail was released, which allowed sending and receiving large files, including unlimited file attachment sizes. In November 2006, Lycos began to roll out applications centered around social media, including the first "watch and chat" video application with the launch of its Lycos Cinema platform. In February 2007, Lycos MIX was launched, allowing users to pull video clips from YouTube
, Google Video
, Yahoo! Video
and MySpace Video. Lycos MIX also allowed users to create playlists where other users could add video comments and chat in real-time.
As part of a corporate restructuring to focus on mobile, social networks and location-based serves, Daum sold Lycos for $36 million in August 2010 to Ybrant Digital
, an internet marketing company based in Hyderabad, India.
Web search engine
A web search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search results are generally presented in a list of results often referred to as SERPS, or "search engine results pages". The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other...
and web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.
Corporate history
Lycos is a university spin-offUniversity spin-off
University spin-offs transform technological inventions developed from university research that are likely to remain unexploited otherwise. As such, university spin-offs are a subcategory of research spin-offs. Prominent examples of university spin-offs are Genentech, Crucell, Lycos and Plastic...
that began as a research project by Michael Loren Mauldin
Michael Loren Mauldin
Michael Loren "Fuzzy" Mauldin is the founder and chief scientist of the Lycos Internet search engine company. He developed the Lycos Search Engine while working on the Informedia Digital Library project at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also, Director of Conversive, Inc...
of Carnegie Mellon University's
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
main Pittsburgh campus in 1994. Lycos Inc. was formed with approximately US $2 million in venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
funding from CMGI
CMGI
ModusLink Global Solutions, formerly CMGI Inc., is an American technology and venture capital company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company supplies a range of internet and communications services, mostly to computer companies, its biggest customer being Hewlett-Packard Company...
. Bob Davis became the CEO and first employee of the new company in 1995. After unsuccessfully attempting to turn the business into a software company selling an enterprise version of the search software, Davis concentrated on building the company into an advertising-supported web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
. Lycos enjoyed several years of growth during the 1990s and became the most visited online destination in the world in 1999, with a global presence in more than 40 countries.
In 1996, the company completed the fastest IPO from inception to offering in NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
history. In 1997, it became one of the first profitable internet businesses in the world. In 1998, Lycos paid $58 million for Tripod
Tripod.com
Tripod.com is a web hosting service owned by Lycos. Originally aiming its services to college students and young adults, it was one of several sites trying to build online communities during the dot-com bubble...
in an attempt to "break into the portal market." Over the course of the next few years, Lycos acquired nearly two dozen internet brands including Gamesville
Gamesville
Gamesville is a casual gaming portal founded in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts by Steven Kane, Stuart Roseman and John Furse. Gamesville was acquired in 1999 by Web portal Lycos for $232 million in stock...
, WhoWhere, Wired Digital
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
(eventually sold to Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
), Quote.com, Angelfire
Angelfire
Angelfire is an Internet service offering free space for web sites. It was founded in 1996 and was originally a combination web site building and medical transcription service. Eventually the site dropped the transcription service and focused solely on web site hosting, offering both free and...
, Matchmaker.com
Matchmaker.com
Matchmaker.com is an internet dating service. It was founded in 1986, making it the oldest of the current online dating sites. From 2000 to January 2006, it was run by Lycos...
and Raging Bull.
Lycos Europe
Lycos Europe
Lycos Europe was a pan-European network of websites, offering services including communication tools, online communities, web search, e-commerce, web hosting, homepage building and Internet access. It was an independent corporation, sharing no corporate structure with Lycos, Inc...
was a joint venture between Lycos and the Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
transnational media corporation, but it has always been a distinct corporate entity. Although Lycos Europe remains the largest of Lycos's overseas ventures, several other companies also entered into joint venture agreements including Lycos Canada, Lycos Korea and Lycos Asia.
Near the peak of the internet bubble in May 2000, Lycos announced its intent to be acquired by Terra Networks, the internet arm of the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica
Telefónica
Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...
, for $5.4 billion. The acquisition price represented a return of nearly 3000 times the company's initial venture capital investment and about 20 times its initial public offering valuation. The transaction closed in October 2000 and the merged company was renamed Terra Lycos, although the Lycos brand continued to be used in the United States. Overseas, the company continued to be known as Terra Networks. Davis left the company shortly after the merger was completed to join Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in seed, early, and growth stage companies in the communications, consumer, digital media, healthcare, and information technology sectors. The firm's partners include: Peter Bell, Sean Dalton, Bob Davis, Richard de...
, a venture capital fund where he now serves as a managing general partner and concentrates on internet investments.
On August 2, 2004, Terra announced that it was selling Lycos to Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
-based Daum Communications Corporation for $95.4 million in cash, less than 2% of Terra's initial multi-billion dollar investment. In October 2004, the transaction closed and the company name was changed back to Lycos Inc. The remaining half of the business owned by Terra was subsequently reacquired by Telefónica.
Under new ownership, Lycos began to refocus its strategy. In 2005, the company moved away from a search-centric portal and toward a community destination for broadband entertainment content. With a new management team in place, Lycos also began divesting properties that were not core to its new strategy. In July 2006, Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
, which had been part of Lycos since the purchase of Wired Digital in 1998, was sold to Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
and re-merged with Wired Magazine
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
. The Lycos Finance division, best known for Quote.com
Quote.com
Quote.com is a website that delivers financial content and trading tools to active traders and individual investors. It provides free access to delayed worldwide quotes, charts and financial news covering major markets and more than 50 exchanges, including NYSE, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange...
and Raging Bull.com, was sold to FT Interactive Data Corporation in February 2006, while its online dating site, Matchmaker.com
Matchmaker.com
Matchmaker.com is an internet dating service. It was founded in 1986, making it the oldest of the current online dating sites. From 2000 to January 2006, it was run by Lycos...
, was sold to Date.com. In 2006, Lycos regained ownership of the Lycos trademark from Carnegie Mellon University.
During 2006, Lycos introduced several media services, including Lycos Phone which combined video chat, real-time video on demand, and an MP3 player. In August of the same year, a new version of Lycos Mail was released, which allowed sending and receiving large files, including unlimited file attachment sizes. In November 2006, Lycos began to roll out applications centered around social media, including the first "watch and chat" video application with the launch of its Lycos Cinema platform. In February 2007, Lycos MIX was launched, allowing users to pull video clips from YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Google Video
Google Video
Google Videos is a video search engine, and formerly a free video sharing website, from Google Inc. Before removing user-uploaded content, the service allowed selected videos to be remotely embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media, similar to YouTube...
, Yahoo! Video
Yahoo! Video
Yahoo! Video is a video sharing website on which users could upload and share videos. The service is owned and created by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Video began as an internet-wide video search engine and added the ability to upload and share video clips in June 2006...
and MySpace Video. Lycos MIX also allowed users to create playlists where other users could add video comments and chat in real-time.
As part of a corporate restructuring to focus on mobile, social networks and location-based serves, Daum sold Lycos for $36 million in August 2010 to Ybrant Digital
Ybrant Digital Limited
Ybrant Digital is a digital marketing company founded in 2000 and headquartered in India with offices in US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, Serbia, Israel, China, India, and Australia, and with representatives or partners in Poland and...
, an internet marketing company based in Hyderabad, India.
Lycos Network sites
- AngelfireAngelfireAngelfire is an Internet service offering free space for web sites. It was founded in 1996 and was originally a combination web site building and medical transcription service. Eventually the site dropped the transcription service and focused solely on web site hosting, offering both free and...
, a Lycos property providing free web hosting, blogging and web publishing tools - GamesvilleGamesvilleGamesville is a casual gaming portal founded in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts by Steven Kane, Stuart Roseman and John Furse. Gamesville was acquired in 1999 by Web portal Lycos for $232 million in stock...
, Lycos's massive multi-player gaming site - HotbotHotBotHotBot is a web search engine launched in May 1996 by Wired Magazine. It is currently owned by Lycos. HotBot became a popular tool with search results served by the Inktomi database and directory results provided originally by LookSmart and then the Open Directory Project since mid-1999...
, a Lycos-owned search engine - HtmlGear, a Lycos property providing web-page add-ons (guestbooks, etc.)
- Tripod.comTripod.comTripod.com is a web hosting service owned by Lycos. Originally aiming its services to college students and young adults, it was one of several sites trying to build online communities during the dot-com bubble...
, a Lycos property providing free web hosting, blogging and web publishing tools - Webon, a webhosting and publishing platform
- WhoWhere.com, a people search engine
- InsiderInfo,
- Weather ZombieWeather Zombie-Weather Zombie Website:Created by Lycos and launched in mid October, 2010, Weather Zombie is a website that provides weather forecasting via a weather data feed from AccuWeather and relayed through various weather themed zombies....
, a Lycos property providing weather forecasts, with a zombie theme, via an Accuweather.com feed.
Lycos-branded sites
- Lycos Domains Internet domain nameDomain nameA domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
purchasing - Lycos Mail an e-mail provider formerly known as Mailcity.com.
- Lycos Retriever an automatically generated information summarization service.
- Lycos Shopping
- Lycos Deals
- Lycos Classifieds
- Lycos Weather
- Lycos Jobs powered by indeed
- Lycos Yellow Pages
Former Lycos sites
- GetRelevant, a Lycos online advertising site
- Quote.comQuote.comQuote.com is a website that delivers financial content and trading tools to active traders and individual investors. It provides free access to delayed worldwide quotes, charts and financial news covering major markets and more than 50 exchanges, including NYSE, NASDAQ, the London Stock Exchange...
and Raging Bull, finance sites - Matchmaker.comMatchmaker.comMatchmaker.com is an internet dating service. It was founded in 1986, making it the oldest of the current online dating sites. From 2000 to January 2006, it was run by Lycos...
, a dating site - WebmonkeyWebmonkeyWebmonkey is a popular online tutorial website composed of various articles on building webpages from backend to frontend. The site covers many aspects of developing on the web like programming, database, multimedia, and setting up web storefronts. The content presented is much like Wired magazine...
, web-building help and tutorials - Wired.com, the online arm of Wired magazine
- Lycos Radio, allowed users to create and host their own free internet radio shows