RSS Company Syndicate IQ Shuts Down
Another startup has bitten
the dust, RSS company Syndicate IQ has "ceased
operations" according to a notice on its
homepage. Syndicate IQ was a company that provided feed management, statistics and
adverts - similar to Feedburner. Syndicate IQ
launched in December 2004 and its goal was to "manage, measure, and monetize syndicated
content", according to the old homepage (found on the
Wayback Machine). The current shut-down notice on Syndicate IQ states:
"Syndicate IQ has ceased operations. If you would like to continue to get news, resources, analysis, reviews, and opinion on anything and everyting RSS/syndication, head on over to Syndication Gumption. The RSS feeds for Syndicate IQ are being redirected to the main feed for Syndication Gumption."
Stuart Watson, founder of Syndicate IQ, wrote more about the reasons for shutting down in a blog post. Despite the failure of Syndicate IQ, Watson insists the RSS market "is still very, very young and plenty of opportunities exist". He outlines some:
"Some of them supporting publishers (yes, there is still plenty of room) who are creating text, audio, and video content. Others will support marketers/e-commerce companies and others will directly support consumers with RSS/syndication related services."
Back in September 2005, when I defined The RSS Space, I categorized Syndicate IQ as being in 'Publisher Services' - a market segment today dominated by Feedburner [full disclosure: I am a paid advisor to another company in this space, Nooked]. In my opinion it's a market yet to reach its potential - after all, RSS feeds have still not truly hit the mainstream. 2007 should be a good year for RSS, with Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all making big pushes in this regard. But for small startups like Syndicate IQ, it's a tough road to hoe - and especially so since Feedburner is the dominant player in the segment Syndicate IQ was in.
But like Stuart Watson, I think there are plenty of opportunities to come in the RSS space. So it's sad to see Syndicate IQ bow out at this point.
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Several companies have shut down lately, and what's slightly worrying (yet to be expected) is the abruptness of the process: one day you're using a service, the other day you just see a note that the service is closed and you should go elsewhere. That's the price for using free services which have no solid business plan of their own.
@franticindustries
Agree with your post except the last comment. IMO it's hugely competitive space with great product ideas that are being slowly adopted. Entities may find themslves in trouble if they don't have the resources to hang around for the "adoption" phase.
I would bet the plans are there, they just need to be adjusted for flexibility.
Would also add that in looking at the failed Web 2.0 companies it's clear that the trend is not specific to anyone product or service...it's across the board which should be even more worrying.
People get themselves into trouble when they borrow large money for small ideas.
@Adrian: yes, I sounded a little harsh there. But the main point of my comment was that not only that companies go out of business, their users tend to get a pretty raw deal too. Recently CrispyNews closed its doors and the message I got (I only had an account for testing purposes) was basically "goodbye, we recommend you try Pligg". Imagine how would that sound if I had invested weeks or even months in my CrispyNews site (and I know some people have)? It's not just the companies that suffer for not being able to put their business plan into action (or not having a clear vision, or something else), it's also their users.
It's not difficult to realize why these guys failed. I never heard of them until now.