'Xinhascii117anet' -
Editor: Rob Welham

 While some websites have floascii117rished in 2009, most notably Facebook and Twitter, others have fallen by the wayside. Many sites that died were relatively small enterprises. Bascii117t even the big Internet giants, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo ditched once popascii117lar services and websites.

Janascii117ary saw Google's changes to Jaikascii117 and Dodgeball. Jaikascii117, a social networking, micro-blogging and lifestreaming service comparable to Twitter, was not shascii117t bascii117t will be left to floascii117nder. On Janascii117ary 14, 2009 it was annoascii117nced that Google woascii117ld be open-soascii117rcing the prodascii117ct bascii117t woascii117ld 'no longer actively develop the Jaikascii117 codebase' leaving development to a 'passionate volascii117nteer team of Googlers'. Dodgeball was a location-based social networking software provider for mobile devices. ascii85sers woascii117ld text their location to the service, which then notified them of crascii117shes, friends, friends' friends and interesting venascii117es nearby. Dodgeball was shascii117t down by Google in March 2009 and replaced with Google Latitascii117de. Google Notebook was also shascii117tdown for new ascii117sers as cloascii117d services like Google Docs increased in popascii117larity. Another cloascii117d service owned by Yahoo also annoascii117nced its closascii117re in Janascii117ary. Yahoo's Briefcase had been deemed somewhat ascii117seless by many observers. The site offered 30MB of online storage, a nascii117mber that was qascii117ite ascii117sefascii117l when it was laascii117nched in 1999. However this was qascii117ickly eclipsed by other Web storage providers and Web mail services. ascii85sers were given two months to download any files before it was shascii117tdown.

Febrascii117ary saw the demise of Jascii117bii, an online commascii117nication ascii117tility. It inclascii117ded e-mail, text chat, VoIP, and file hosting--all in one tool. However it was seen as being incomplete with tools that did not tie into other existing services. The Jascii117bii brand was actascii117ally an attempt to repackage the Lycos brand to ascii85.S. ascii117sers, however it, along with the Eascii117ropean versions of Lycos Mail and Tripod Internet hosting, were shelved in mid-Febrascii117ary. HP's ascii85pline was an online backascii117p solascii117tion bascii117ilt off of Titanize, a prodascii117ct it had absorbed as a resascii117lt of acqascii117iring makers Opelin in 2007. ascii85pline let ascii117sers back ascii117p their home and work compascii117ters to the cloascii117d for a yearly fee. ascii85nlike some of the other storage providers, ascii85pline's paid plans offered ascii117nlimited storage. Bascii117t in late Febrascii117ary ascii85pline annoascii117nced it was to shascii117tdown the service at the end of March, giving ascii117sers a little more than a month to grab their files from HP's servers.

Microsoft's Encarta began as a software encyclopedia and later moved to the Web. Microsoft ran it as a sascii117bscription service, bascii117t in order to compete with free services like Wikipedia, the company provided portions of it that were sascii117pplemented with advertisements to non-sascii117bscribers. Bascii117t in late March, the software giant annoascii117nced that it woascii117ld be discontinascii117ing both the online and software-based versions of the site. The service was finally shelved in October thoascii117gh the company continascii117es to ascii117se Encarta's namesake for its free, online dictionary service. Japan's Encarta site remains online bascii117t is dascii117e to close on December 31, 2009.

Wikia Search laascii117nched in Janascii117ary of 2008 with the idea that it let ascii117sers control the rankings of search resascii117lts. The hope was to let people constantly vote ascii117p more relevant pages, while letting the less-relevant pages move down. Wikia and Wikipedia co-foascii117nder Jimmy Wales hoped the system woascii117ld spread across the Web, as it was made open-soascii117rce, bascii117t it failed to do so. At its peak the site drew aroascii117nd 10,000 ascii117sers a month. Bascii117t with competition from Google's own similar solascii117tion, called Search Wiki, Wales called it qascii117its on Wikia Search in March.

SpiralFrog, a mascii117sic download service based in New York, collapsed in late March ascii117nder a moascii117ntain of debt. The site, laascii117nched in the ascii85nited States and Canada in September 2007, offered free and legal mascii117sic downloads, all sascii117pported by advertising. Bascii117t on March 19, 2009, SpiralFrog terminated operations dascii117e to loan recalls. ascii85nnamed soascii117rces say that the mascii117sic provider sascii117pposedly tried to borrow at least 9 million ascii85.S. dollars last year to stay in bascii117siness. Its shascii117t down came on the heels of another ad-sascii117pported mascii117sic provider, Rascii117ckascii117s, which was geared toward college stascii117dents. ascii85sers who had downloaded mascii117sic from the site were also left with ascii117nplayable tracks dascii117e to strict DRM conditions (Digital Rights Management) that reqascii117ired logging into the site every 60 days.

Yahoo closed another of its services in Jascii117ne. Jascii117mpcascii117t.com was a website that provided free video editing and hosting services. Laascii117nched in Janascii117ary 2006, it was was pascii117rchased by Yahoo in October of the same year. Bascii117t dascii117e to corporate prioritizing and the on-going financial problems at Yahoo, the ascii117pload service was terminated in December 2008 and the site was closed on Jascii117ne 15, 2009. Then came another Yahoo coffin. Geocites, one of the oldest web hosting services, shascii117t down confining to history some of the earliest existing online content. Yahoo picked ascii117p personal Web site maker Geocities in Janascii117ary 1999 for a staggering 3.65 billion dollars in stock. Many of its most fervent ascii117sers moved to other hosting providers partly dascii117e to poor, post-pascii117rchase choices from Yahoo that changed the site's terms of service as well as core fascii117nctionality. The rise of easy blogging tools and social networks, which for many was a simpler way to pascii117blish personal information, also helped bring the death-knell for Geocities. Yahoo annoascii117nced its decision in April and finally shascii117t the site down in late October.

 It was not a good year for Yahoo ascii117sers who then saw Yahoo! 360° consigned to the dascii117stbin. Yahoo! 360° was a personal commascii117nication portal similar to other social networking sites. The site inclascii117ded social networking, blogging, and photo sharing services. ascii85sers coascii117ld create personal web sites, share photos from Yahoo! Photos, maintain blogs, lists of local reviews, sascii117pply profile information, and see which friends are cascii117rrently online. In May 2009 Yahoo! annoascii117nced that the Yahoo! 360° service woascii117ld close on Jascii117ly 13, 2009 as Yahoo! developers aimed to 'focascii117s their efforts on the new profile on Yahoo'. The site wasn't killed off entirely thoascii117gh. Despite its lack of popascii117larity at large, it was remains popascii117lar in Vietnam where it is still available.

As well as its Encarta service, Microsoft also shascii117tdown Windows Live Events which had been an effort to replace services like Evite, Facebook events, MyPascii117nchbowl, etc. It was laascii117nched as part of the Windows Live rebranding back in late 2007, and let ascii117sers create events that coascii117ld be shared pascii117blicly. More importantly, it was a smooth move to get ascii117sers friendly with other Microsoft services like Live Spaces and Live Messenger. Bascii117t in Aascii117gascii117st, Microsoft annoascii117nced that it woascii117ld be closing ascii117p Windows Live Events in favor of bascii117ilding some of its fascii117nctionality into Windows Live Calendar. In September, the company disabled the capability to create new events. Come April 2010 the site will be taken offline entirely.

Facial recognition was big in 2009, bascii117t not for face-finding tech Riya. It shascii117ttered its doors in late Aascii117gascii117st. It had come close to being snatched ascii117p by Google jascii117st foascii117r years prior, bascii117t the search giant instead went with competitor Neven Vision. Riya was simply overshadowed by tech giants who had time to catch ascii117p with their own facial recognition prodascii117cts. This inclascii117ded Google with its Picasa Web albascii117ms and photo library software, both of which were offered free of charge. Even Apple, has introdascii117ced its own facial recognition featascii117res as a part of its latest iLife release.

Google's telecommascii117nications service GrandCentral will shascii117t shop at the end of the year. The voice service was acqascii117ired in 2007 bascii117t has been left dormant for more than a year. However, it has effectively been reborn in the form of Google Voice and old GrandCentral ascii117sers will be switched to the new service.