Last month Bebo founder Michael Birch bought back the failed social networking site he founded for $1 million. Today, he announced a plan to wipe the slate clean, and to start the site over. Gone, he promises in a hilarious video announcing the return of the site, are the penis illustrations and career-ruining photos.
“Will it work?” he asks of his plan to reinvigorate the site. “Who knows, but it’ll be fun trying.”
Bebo’s story is one of a spectacular fall from grace. Birch sold the site – at one point the most popular social network in the UK, eclipsing even MySpace – to AOL for $850 million in 2008, and walked away with nearly $600 million from the deal.
The site quickly buckled under the ascent of Facebook, however, and its audience numbers plummeted.
AOL eventually sold the site to digital media investors Criterion Capital Partners in 2010 for a reported $10 million – at a loss of $840 million. Birch himself bought it back last month for just $1 million.
Here he is in his own words:
-
Why some publishers are giving their AI chatbots a personality
BuzzFeed and Ingenio are hoping giving their chatbots a unique voice and tone will differentiate their AI products but others are prioritizing utility over entertainment.
-
Publishers say the competition is steeper than expected for event sponsorship dollars this year
Selling events was harder than expected for some publishers in Q2, but having a niche helped win some of the coveted sponsorship dollars.
-
Media Briefing: Publisher execs fear lack of visibility for Q3, but feel steady year over year
Publisher execs share how Q2 shook out for their businesses as they brace for an equally murky second half.
-
SponsoredWhat the measurement and currency discussion really means to TV advertisers
Ali Mack, head of TV and agency, Experian Major streaming video providers have recently made headlines by adopting new currencies for ad measurement, threatening Nielsen’s long-standing TV ratings monopoly. NBCUniversal, for example, has certified iSpot and VideoAmp as currencies for advanced audiences and formed the Joint Industry Committee with Paramount, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. […]
-
Digiday+ Research: Nearly two-thirds of publishers think they will lose when the third-party cookie dies
Publishers have been busy prepping for the end of the third-party cookie, but that doesn't mean they think they'll come out on top in the post-cookie era. In fact, publishers count themselves among those who stand to lose from the end of the cookie.
-
As AI spreads across the marketing landscape, data’s role will be key to success or danger
There’s a growing awareness of the risks inherent in AI's ultra-powerful potential, but whether enough steps are being taken to mitigate them remains a huge question mark.
