Mediapolis, Inc. is a web engineering company based in New York City. Founded in 1995 the company has built over 300 websites largely utilizing open-source software

Open-source software

Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...

.

Mediapolis owns and operates the DataLounge

DataLounge

The DataLounge is an Internet forum for LGBT news and gossip with approximately 6.5 million page views each month according to its Webmaster...

 a popular LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 Internet Forum

Internet forum

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...

.

History

The company was founded in January 1995 by Carl Pritzkat, Michael Rhodes, and Tony Travostino. The first headquarters were out of Michael's apartment in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan

Meatpacking District, Manhattan

The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs roughly from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street, although recently it is sometimes considered to have extended north to West 16th Street and east...

. In 1998 Alan Emtage

Alan Emtage

Alan Emtage conceived and implemented the first version of Archie, a pre-Web internet search engine for locating material in public FTP archives....

, creator of Archie

Archie

-People:* Archie Karas , a Greek gambler known for turning $50 into $40 million before losing it all* Archie Brown , a British political scientist and historian* Archie Macpherson, Scottish sports broadcaster* Archie Thompson, Australian footballer...

 the first Internet search engine

Search engine

A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...

, joined the company. Since then it has worked to produce several hundred websites, with clients ranging from small not-for-profits to large multi-national corporations.

In January 1995 BMG Entertainment launched the Internet's first e-commerce site featuring an entire record label catalog, ecmrecords.com which Mediapolis engineered and operated until late 2004. Other notable sites created and operated include yourpharmacy.com for Express Scripts, grandparents.com, and VolvoForLifeAwards.com for Volvo

Volvo

AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

. In early 2010, Mediapolis was part of a team that purchased Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

 from media conglomerate Reed Elsevier

Reed Elsevier

Reed Elsevier is a publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, risk and business sectors. It is listed on several of the world's major stock exchanges. It is a FTSE 100 and FT500 Global company...

. It built and operates the website.

Awards

In 1999 the DataLounge

DataLounge

The DataLounge is an Internet forum for LGBT news and gossip with approximately 6.5 million page views each month according to its Webmaster...

 won GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding LGBT Interactive Media.