Editing GeoCities (section)

== History ==
[[File:VeryFirstGeologo.png|thumb|The first GeoCities logo (1995–1998)|89px]]
GeoCities began during mid-1995 as BHI, which stood for Beverly Hills Internet, a small web hosting and development company in southern California.<ref name=Business_Wire>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Beverly+Hills+Internet,+builder+of+interactive+cyber+cities,+launches...-a017190114 |title=Beverly Hills Internet, builder of interactive cyber cities, launches 4 more virtual communities linked to real places; SiliconValley, CapitolHill, Paris and Tokyo offer free homesteads to residents of BHI's 'GeoCities' |work=Business Wire |date=July 5, 1995 |access-date=2013-08-22 |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108022248/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Beverly+Hills+Internet,+builder+of+interactive+cyber+cities,+launches...-a017190114 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The company created its own [[Web directory]], organized thematically as six so-called "neighborhoods". The neighborhoods included "Colosseum", "Hollywood", "RodeoDrive", "SunsetStrip", "WallStreet", and "WestHollywood". In mid-1995, the company decided to offer users (thereafter known as "Homesteaders") the ability to develop free home pages within those neighborhoods, with 2 MB of space provided at the time.<ref name="howtogeek 2021-08-24">{{cite news | first=Benj | last=Edwards | url=https://www.howtogeek.com/692445/remembering-geocities-the-1990s-precursor-to-social-media/ | title=Remembering GeoCities, the 1990s Precursor to Social Media | work=How-To Geek | date=2021-08-24 | access-date=2021-12-01 | archive-date=December 1, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201184905/https://www.howtogeek.com/692445/remembering-geocities-the-1990s-precursor-to-social-media/ | url-status=live }}</ref> During the registration process, new members chose to which neighborhood they wanted to belong. This neighborhood became part of the member's Web address along with a sequentially assigned "street address" number to make the URL unique (for example, <nowiki>"www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/number"</nowiki>). Chat, bulletin boards, and other elements of "community" were added soon afterward, helping foster rapid growth. On July 5, 1995, GeoCities added additional cities, including "CapitolHill", "Paris", "SiliconValley", and "Tokyo".<ref name=Business_Wire/> By December 1995, the company, which now had a total of 14 neighborhoods, was registering thousands of Homesteaders a day and getting more than six million monthly page views. GeoCities never enforced neighborhood-specific content; for example, a "Hollywood" homesteader could be nothing but a college student's home page. The company decided to emphasize increasing membership and community, and on December 15, 1995, BHI became known as GeoCities after having also been named Geopages.<ref name=AllBusiness>{{cite web |url=http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising/7191644-1.html|title=Beverly Hills Internet, Builder of Web Communities, Changes Name to GeoCities; Monthly Page|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211170054/http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising/7191644-1.html |archive-date=2008-12-11 |website=Business Wire|date=December 14, 1995|access-date=May 1, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> At that time GeoCities was headquartered at 9401 Wilshire Boulevard in [[Beverly Hills, California]].<ref name=AllBusiness/> By December 1996, it was headquartered on the third floor of 1918 Main Street in nearby [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], with an office on the 8th floor of the [[Pershing Square Building]] at 125 Park Avenue in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/BHI/ad_info.html|title=Advertising and Sponsorship Information|website=GeoCities|date=December 19, 1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219234521/http://www.geocities.com/BHI/ad_info.html|access-date=April 30, 2009|archive-date=December 19, 1996}}</ref>

[[File:GeoCities logo.svg|thumb|The second and last GeoCities logo of 1998–1999|150px]]
Over time, many companies, including [[Yahoo!]], invested extensively in GeoCities and, with the introduction of paid premium services, the site continued to grow. During May 1997, GeoCities introduced advertisements on its pages.<ref name="howtogeek 2021-08-24"/> Despite negative reaction from users, GeoCities continued to grow compared to rivals. Competition in web hosting came from the likes of [[Tripod (web hosting)|Tripod]] and [[Angelfire]]. By June 1997, GeoCities was the fifth most popular website on the Web, and by October of that year the company had registered its millionth Homesteader.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

During June 1998, in an effort to increase brand awareness, GeoCities introduced a [[watermark]] to user Web pages. The watermark, much like an [[Digital on-screen graphic|onscreen graphic]] on some television channels, was a transparent floating [[GIF]] image that used JavaScript to stay displayed on the bottom right corner of the browser screen. Many users felt the watermark interfered with the design of their Web site and threatened to relocate their Web pages elsewhere. The implementation of the watermark preceded the widespread adoption of [[CSS]] and the standardized [[Document Object Model]] and had cross-browser problems. However, GeoCities said in a press release that feedback regarding the watermark had been overwhelmingly positive.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hu |first=Jim |date=1998-06-28 |title=GeoCitizens fume over watermark |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/geocitizens-fume-over-watermark/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805102516/http://news.cnet.com/GeoCitizens-fume-over-watermark/2100-1023_3-212596.html |archive-date=2009-08-05 |access-date=2024-04-21 |publisher=CNet}}</ref>

The company became corporate during August 1998, being listed with the [[Nasdaq|NASDAQ]] exchange with the code GCTY. The [[initial public offering]] price was $17, increasing rapidly after the initial offering to a maximum of more than $100. By 1999 GeoCities was the third-most visited site of the World Wide Web, behind [[AOL]] and [[Yahoo!]].<ref name="MarshallVNU">{{cite web |last=Marshall|first=Rosalie|url=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2241092/yahoo-closing-geocities|title=Yahoo closing Geocities web hosting service|website=[[Incisive Media|Vnunet]]|date=April 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426073628/http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2241092/yahoo-closing-geocities|access-date=April 30, 2009|archive-date=April 26, 2009}}</ref> The headquarters had been relocated to 4499 Glencoe Avenue in Los Angeles, near the [[Marina del Rey, California|Marina del Rey]] area of [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geocities.com/main/info/company/contact/|title=Contact GeoCities|website=GeoCities|date=February 22, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990202213836/http://geocities.com/main/info/company/contact/|access-date=April 30, 2009|archive-date=February 2, 1999}}</ref>

=== Acquisition by Yahoo! ===
[[File:FirstGeocitiesYahoo.png|thumb|The first Yahoo! GeoCities logo (1999–2009)|200px]]
During January 1999, near the peak of the [[dot-com bubble]], GeoCities was purchased by Yahoo! for $3.57 billion in stock, with Yahoo! taking control on May 28.<ref name="cnn1999">{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/1999/01/28/technology/yahoo_a/|date=1999-01-28|title=Yahoo! buys GeoCities|publisher=CNN.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407170332/http://money.cnn.com/1999/01/28/technology/yahoo_a/|archive-date=2018-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| url         = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/264577.stm
| date        = 1999-01-29
| title       = Yahoo! moves in on GeoCities
| first       = Chris
| last        = Nuttall
| work   = BBC News
| access-date  = 2009-06-03
| url-status     = live
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090427174659/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/264577.stm
| archive-date = 2009-04-27
}}</ref><ref name="Narasimhandeath">{{cite web|last=Narasimhan|first=Balaji|url=http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2009/apr/270409-Geocities-former-websites-IT-Adda-Bangalore-Yahoo-Anglefire-Tripod.htm|title=The death of GeoCities|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711152822/http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2009/apr/270409-Geocities-former-websites-IT-Adda-Bangalore-Yahoo-Anglefire-Tripod.htm |archive-date=2009-07-11 |website=[[Mid-Day]]|date=April 27, 2009|access-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref> The acquisition proved unpopular; users began to quit ''en masse'' in protest at the new [[terms of service]] specified by Yahoo! for GeoCities.<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news
| url          = http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/LIS/archive/webright/geocities-changes.html
| date         = 1999-06-30
| title        = Yahoo Angers GeoCities Members With Copyright Rules
| work         = [[The New York Times]]
| access-date  = 2009-06-03
| url-status   = live
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090725074140/http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/LIS/archive/webright/geocities-changes.html
| archive-date = 2009-07-25
}}</ref> The terms stated that the company owned all rights and content, including media such as pictures. Yahoo! quickly reversed its decision.<ref name="NYTimes" /> During July 1999, Yahoo! switched from neighborhood and street addresses [[URL|Uniform Resource Locators]] (URLs) for homesteaders to "vanity" URLs through members' registration names to Yahoo! (<nowiki>"www.geocities.com/membername"</nowiki>). This service was offered previously only as a premium.

During 2001, amid speculation by analysts that GeoCities was not yet profitable (it having declared an $8 million loss for the final quarter of 1998), Yahoo! introduced a for-fee premium hosting service at GeoCities<ref>{{cite news
| url         = https://www.forbes.com/2001/08/28/0828yahoo.html
| date        = 2001-08-28
| title       = A Community That Stays Together, Pays Together
| first       = Betsy
| last        = Schiffman
| work   = Forbes
| access-date  = 2009-06-03
| url-status     = live
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090721164925/http://www.forbes.com/2001/08/28/0828yahoo.html
| archive-date = 2009-07-21
}}</ref> and reduced the accessibility of free and low-price hosting accounts by limiting their data transfer rate for Web page visitors; since that time the data transfer limit for free accounts was said to be limited to 3 GB per month, but was enforced as a limit of about 4.2 MB per hour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ygcpagebuilderhelp/message/29988|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724090048/http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ygcpagebuilderhelp/message/29988|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2012|title=Data Transfer|access-date=2010-06-05}}</ref> The paid accounts were later unified in the Yahoo! Web Hosting service, with higher data transfer limits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info3/index.php |title=GeoCities PLUS and WebHosting Starter|access-date=2010-06-05 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051123234834/http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info3/index.php |archive-date = 2005-11-23}}</ref> During 2001, a rumor began that GeoCities was to be terminated; the chain e-mail making that claim cited an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' that stated the opposite.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/geocities.asp|title=GeoCities Closing|website=[[Snopes]]|date=April 25, 2009|access-date=May 3, 2009}}{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2023}}</ref>

=== Closure ===
[[File:Yahoo! Geocities (2009).png|thumb|Logo of GeoCities before becoming defunct in 2009|200px]]
On April 23, 2009, Yahoo! announced that it would be terminating its [[United States]] version of GeoCities, and stopped accepting new registrations, though the existing GeoCities accounts remained active.<ref name="TechCrunch" /> During late June 2009, Yahoo! updated the GeoCities home page to indicate: "GeoCities is closing on October 26, 2009."<ref name="PCMagGeo" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://help.yahoo.com//l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/close-03.html|title=What if I didn't save my files and images?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809185002/http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/close-03.html |archive-date=2011-08-09 |website=Yahoo! Geocities|url-status=dead|access-date=August 7, 2011}}</ref> GeoCities joined a long list of other services discontinued by Yahoo, such as Farechase, [[Yahoo! Music Radio|LAUNCHcast]], My Web, Audio Search, Pets, [[Yahoo! Photos|Photos]], [[Yahoo! Live|Live]], Kickstart, [[Yahoo! Briefcase|Briefcase]], Webmessenger, and [[Yahoo!#Defunct services|Yahoo! Teachers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calgaryherald.com/Technology/Yahoo%2Babandoning%2BGeoCities/1530841/story.html|title=Yahoo! abandoning GeoCities|via=[[Reuters]]|website=[[Calgary Herald]]|date=April 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427153850/http://www.calgaryherald.com/Technology/Yahoo%2Babandoning%2BGeoCities/1530841/story.html|access-date=August 7, 2011|archive-date=April 27, 2009}}</ref>

With the termination of GeoCities in the U.S., Yahoo! no longer offered free web page hosting, except in [[Japan]], where the service continued for ten more years.<ref name="BBCPullPlug">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8016211.stm|title=Yahoo pulls the plug on GeoCities|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501013210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8016211.stm |archive-date=2009-05-01 |website=[[BBC]]|date=April 24, 2009|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> Yahoo! encouraged users to upgrade their accounts to the fee-based Yahoo! Web Hosting service.<ref>{{cite web
| author=Yahoo!
| title=GeoCities will close later this year.
| url=http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/geocities-05.html
| publisher=Yahoo! Help
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427080521/http://help.yahoo.com/l//us//yahoo//geocities//geocities-05.html
| archive-date=April 27, 2009
| url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref name="GeoCities_Closing">{{cite web|url = http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/|title = GeoCities Closing|access-date = 2009-10-30|last = Yahoo!|author-link = Yahoo!|date = October 2009|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091018205426/http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/|archive-date = 2009-10-18}}</ref>

Rupert Goodwins, the editor of ''[[ZDNET|ZDNet]]'', perceived the termination of GeoCities as an end of an era; he described GeoCities as "the first proof that you could have something really popular and still not make any money on the internet."<ref name="BBCPullPlug"/> Vijay Mukhi, an internet and cybersecurity expert quoted in the ''[[Business Standard]]'', criticized Yahoo's management of GeoCities; Mukhi described GeoCities as "a lost opportunity for Yahoo!", adding that "they could have made it a [[Facebook]] if they wanted." [[Rich Skrenta]], the CEO of [[Blekko]], posted on [[Twitter]] an offer to take over GeoCities from Yahoo! in exchange for 50% future revenue share.<ref>{{cite news |last=D'Monte|first=Leslie|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/yahoo-writes-geocities-obituary/356196/|title=Yahoo! writes GeoCities' obituary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722062102/http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/yahoo-writes-geocities-obituary/356196/ |archive-date=2009-07-22 |website=[[Business Standard]]|date=April 25, 2009|access-date=April 30, 2009}}</ref>

In response to the termination, rival Web hosting services began to compete for the sites formerly displayed by GeoCities. For instance, [[Germany|German]] Web host [[Jimdo]] started the "Lifeboat for GeoCities" service to encourage GeoCities users to display their sites on Jimdo.<ref name="MarshallVNU"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jimdo.com/2009/04/23/jimdo-s-lifeboat-for-geocities|title=Jimdo's Lifeboat for GeoCities|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503033115/http://www.jimdo.com/2009/04/23/jimdo-s-lifeboat-for-geocities/ |archive-date=2009-05-03 |website=Jimdo|access-date=April 30, 2009}}</ref> ''Geocities-closing.com'', started by GeoCities competitor [[uCoz]], is a similar project begun to save GeoCities websites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zmogo.com/web/geocities-shuts-it-doors-and-thousands-of-sites-could-be-lost/|title=GeoCities Shuts It Doors and Thousands of Sites Could be Lost, But There Are Other Options|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011043156/http://www.zmogo.com/web/geocities-shuts-it-doors-and-thousands-of-sites-could-be-lost/ |archive-date=2009-10-11 |access-date=October 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><!-- Please do not list any other Web services *unless* other reliable sources cover particular hosting services responding to GeoCities's closure -->

Many of the webpages formerly hosted by GeoCities remained accessible, but could not be updated, until 2014. Attempts to access any page using the original GeoCities URL formerly redirected to Yahoo! Small Business,<ref>{{cite web|title=Geocities has shut down|url=https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/geocities|publisher=Yahoo! Small Business|access-date=4 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704005606/https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/geocities|archive-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> but now redirect to the Yahoo! main page.

===Archiving efforts===
Soon after the GeoCities termination announcement, the [[Internet Archive]] announced a project to archive GeoCities pages, stating "GeoCities has been an important outlet for personal expression on the Web for almost 15 years." Internet Archive made it their task to ensure the thoroughness and completeness of their archive of GeoCities sites.<ref name="Archive1">{{cite web
|url = https://archive.org/web/geocities.php
|title = Saving a Historical Record of GeoCities
|access-date = 2009-08-17
|last = Internet Archive
|author-link = Internet Archive
|year = 2009}}</ref> The former Web site InternetArchaeology.org also archived and showcased artifacts from GeoCities.<ref name="InternetArchaeology.org">{{cite web
| url = http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/10/internet-archaeology-in-which-the-sordid-past-of-the-internet-is-preserved-forever/
| title = Internet Archeology: In which the Internet's sordid past is preserved and curated
| access-date = 2009-10-20
| last = Tech Crunch
| year = 2009
| url-status = live
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091013092417/http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/10/internet-archaeology-in-which-the-sordid-past-of-the-internet-is-preserved-forever/
| archive-date = 2009-10-13
}}</ref> The operators of the site Reocities downloaded as much of the content hosted on GeoCities as they could before it ended, in an attempt to create a mirror of GeoCities, albeit an incomplete one.<ref>"[https://geocities.restorativland.org/ The Geocities Gallery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029040412/http://www.reocities.com/ |date=2009-10-29 }}." ''Reocities''. 2009. Retrieved on October 27, 2009.</ref>

Another site attempting to build an archive of defunct GeoCities sites is GeoCities.ws.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://geocities.ws/|title=GeoCities.ws|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030064548/http://www.geocities.ws/ |archive-date=2009-10-30 |access-date=12 December 2009}}</ref> There is no formal relationship between GeoCities and geocities.ws, as it is a completely different company. Many sites were duplicated automatically from GeoCities to geocities.ws many months after the termination of GeoCities. Geocities.ws also promised free hosting, and for eight years this has been the case, {{as of|2018|01|lc=y}}. Other sites with this purpose were [[WebCite]], as well as now-defunct Geociti.es<ref>{{cite web| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221131741/http://geociti.es/| title=Geocities is Dead; An Archive Team Exhibit| url=http://geociti.es/| publisher=Geociti.es| access-date=2013-01-09| archive-date=2010-12-21}}</ref> (closed 2011), Oocities.org and Ge.ocities.org.

On the first anniversary of GeoCities' termination, [[Archive Team]] announced that they would release a [[torrent file]] archive of 641 GB (prior to [[7z]] compression, it was approximately 900 GB of data),<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/2720|title=Archiveteam! The Geocities Torrent|last=Scott|first=Jason|date=2010-10-27|work=ASCII by Jason Scott|access-date=2018-01-16|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308092306/http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/2720|archive-date=2018-03-08}}</ref> and did so on October 29, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101029/03055711647/archive-of-geocities-released-as-a-1tb-torrent.shtml|title=Archive Of Geocities Released As A 1TB Torrent|last=Masnick|first=Mike|work=Techdirt|date=2010-10-29|publisher=Floor64|access-date=2018-01-16|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081516/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101029/03055711647/archive-of-geocities-released-as-a-1tb-torrent.shtml|archive-date=2018-01-16}}</ref> On April 9, 2011, Archive Team released a patch for the first GeoCities torrent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archiveteam.org/archives/geocitiespatch/ |title=GeoCities Patch |publisher=Archiveteam.org |access-date=2012-02-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410095858/http://www.archiveteam.org/archives/geocitiespatch/ |archive-date=2011-04-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=GeoCities_Torrent_Patch&diff=3543&oldid=3541|title=Difference between revisions of "GeoCities Torrent Patch" – Archiveteam|website=www.archiveteam.org|date=2011-04-09|language=en|access-date=2018-01-16|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116002445/https://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=GeoCities_Torrent_Patch&diff=3543&oldid=3541|archive-date=2018-01-16}}</ref>