Product comparison site Productopia is now an official confirmed casualty,
issuing a statement saying “We regret to inform you that Productopia has
ceased operations We’d like to thank our employees, customers and business
partners for their support and commitment ”
The Web site was still functioning today, however. An InternetNews.com call
to Chief Executive Officer Roger Neal was not returned.
The site, which offered “unbiased” editorial advice for shoppers in 634
product categories, was founded in 1998 and was funded by venture capital
firms and investment groups including CMGI @Ventures, Bessemer Venture
Partners, RRE Ventures, Amicus Investments, Angel Investors LLC, Arba Seed
Investment Group and Osprey Ventures.
The revenue model apparently was advertising and referral fees from
e-commerce companies. The company’s senior management team was comprised of
seasoned executives formerly with AOL, Netscape, Excite, Ziff-Davis, Oracle
and the Wall Street Journal.
The company had distribution agreements with AOL, AOL.com, CompuServe,
Yahoo!, iVillage, Netscape Netcenter, NBCi, and Cox Interactive Media.
Founded in 1998 and based in San Francisco, Productopia attempted to “provide
resources to help consumers at every step of the buying process, from
browsing to product research to finding a merchant”
Competition included Consumerreview.com, Deja.com and Consumer Reports Online.