Microsoft-backed social network gets walloped

A would-be social network called Wallop has shut its doors, according to a message on the home page.

"Thank you for being part of the Wallop beta social-networking site," the message reads. "We really appreciate your feedback and support. The beta period will end on September 18th, 2008--after that date, you will no longer be able to access your account."

But Wallop wasn't just another tale of crushed Silicon Valley dreams. The site, which once aimed to compete with the likes of MySpace, had backing from none other than Microsoft.

Microsoft hadn't invested in Wallop in the traditional sense, but it was Microsoft researchers who built the technology that powered the site and then spun it off as a standalone business.

In 2005, the software giant announced an initiative to license the products of its research labs to select start-ups, one of which was Wallop. It launched Wallop , offering a business model that echoed of virtual-world avatars: you'd pay for modifications to spruce up your profile.

Wallop had also raised a round of Series A venture funding from Bay Partners in 2006.

Obviously, it never really caught on: Wallop was never talked about in the same sentences of even third-tier social networks. As we saw with the demise of Yahoo Mash last month, big-tech backing is by no means a guarantee of success when it comes to social networking.

[The_happy_switcher]

Ha ha, what a shocker.

[thelemurking]

No different than a paid service like the iPhone's .mac or whatever that has problems staying up, so a free beta site shutting down doesn't really effect anyone.

Honestly, it's not like it had a chance in hell with the popularity of FaceBook and MySpace. Look at Google's Orkut social network. You would think it would be absolutely HUGE consider it being Google, but how many people in the US know about it?

[chad.armstrong]

give it until V2, then it will be better! ;)

[Vegaman_Dan]

I have never heard of this service. But then again, I have never visited Facebook, MySpace, or any other social site like that so I'm not likely going to know about it. <p>
Just because I find such social sites a waste of bandwidth to me doesn't mean they don't have a place for those who do like to use them.

[iBuzz]

Wallop was actually an internal Microsoft project from 2001 until it got spun off. Yes, that's right. Microsoft had an internal social networking project going years before MySpace and Facebook came onto the scene. But just like Microsoft completely missed the boat with the web and MP3 players, it had no idea what to do with social networking until other companies came along and showed it how significant it was.

[robertkim90]

im not very surprised that they failed because myspace and facebook allow profile spruce ups for free. Why would anyone wanna pay for a less popular version of facebook or myspace?



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