{{Short description|Wiki Internet domain directory}} {{Redirect|Aboutus||About us (disambiguation)}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2008}} {{Infobox website |name = AboutUs |logo = AboutUs Logo.png |company_type = [[Privately held company]] |foundation = {{start date and age|2006}} |founder = {{Ubl | [[Ray King (entrepreneur)|Ray King]] | [[Jay Westerdal]] }} |location = [[Denver]], Colorado, U.S. |owner = Omkarasana, LLC |url = {{URL|https://aboutus.com}} |caption = Screenshot of aboutus.com home page |website_type = {{Ubl | [[Wiki]] | [[Web directory]] }} |language = Multilingual |advertising = Google [[AdSense]] |registration = Optional |launch_date = {{start date and age|2006|5|9}} |current_status = Online, without activity }} '''AboutUs.com''' is an inactive [[internet domain]] directory [[wiki]]. It lists [[website]]s along with information about their content. As a wiki, AboutUs allows Internet users to add entries or modify information. AboutUs.com has since become a wiki for more than just websites. The site allows pages to be created for people, places, and almost anything else.
[[Ray King (entrepreneur)|Ray King]], [[Jay Westerdal]], and Paul Stahura founded AboutUs in 2005. Later in 2006 a small staff of five people in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Oregon]], United States developed out the site. The staff expanded to more than thirty people and two continents with an office in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]. From May 2007 to early 2011, [[Ward Cunningham]], developer of the first [[wiki]], was the [[chief technology officer]] of AboutUs.
AboutUs attracted at least 1.4 million U.S. visitors in July 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://siteanalytics.compete.com/aboutus.com?metric=uv |title=AboutUs.com People Count according to Compete.com |access-date=2015-11-05 |archive-date=2020-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302214050/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/aboutus.com%3Fmetric%3Duv |url-status=dead }}</ref> They used to use the domain name "AboutUs.org", but moved to new site under "AboutUs.com" in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518192956/http://blog.aboutus.org/2010/05/11/we%E2%80%99ve-launched-a-new-site-aboutus-com/|url=http://blog.aboutus.org/2010/05/11/we%E2%80%99ve-launched-a-new-site-aboutus-com/|title=We've launched a new site: AboutUs.com|date=2010-05-11|archivedate=2010-05-18|access-date=2021-03-20}}</ref> Traffic and revenue started declining sharply and in 2013 AboutUs.com and its assets were sold to Omkarasana LLC, a Colorado Limited Liability Company located in Denver. The new company has since redesigned the website, migrated its infrastructure over to Amazon Web Services, and attempted to increase visitors and revenue.
==Website contents== There were more than ten million entries on AboutUs.com as of March 2008, with about 25,000 pages being added a day during that period.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/rethinking/story.php?story_id=120430910578805900 |title=Startup mines for riches in collaboration software |first=Jim |last=Redden |work=[[The Portland Tribune]] |date=2008-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314015958/http://www.portlandtribune.com/rethinking/story.php?story_id=120430910578805900 |archive-date=2008-03-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most entries were created by a [[web robot]] (bot); web searches by users direct the bot to create a page for a web domain. In many cases the content is simply a republication of the contents of the "About us", "About me", or similar page on the website. Such pages typically describe the entity that owns the site, and may include self-promotional information, which AboutUs.com does not restrict. In many other cases the content of an entry consists of the [[whois]] data for the website. As of February 2014, there were more than 20 million entries.
===Data use=== Some websites that analyze domains and traffic link to AboutUs.com as a point of additional reference. Notably, the "[[Whois]]" site DomainTools referenced the Aboutus.com listing along with standard server information, domain ownership and history, and additional data. AboutUs also referenced whois data content from the registrars [[Network Solutions]] and [[Register.com]].<ref>[http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/02/network-solutions-and-registercom-join-aboutusorg-project/ Network Solutions and Register.com join AboutUs.com project] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307191644/http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/02/network-solutions-and-registercom-join-aboutusorg-project/ |date=March 7, 2007 }}</ref>
===Malware domains=== To prevent users from visiting [[malware]] domains, editors worked with [[McAfee]] SiteAdvisor<ref>[http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/MalwareSite McAfee Siteadvisor.com]</ref> and PHSDL<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.phsdl.net/project_honeypot.php |title=PHSDL - Project Honeypot Spam Domains List |access-date=2008-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120105248/http://www.phsdl.net/project_honeypot.php |archive-date=2008-01-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to identify such domains. Once a malware domain is identified, an AboutUs MalwareSite [[Template (programming)|template]] was placed to warn users.<ref>[http://www.aboutus.com/Template:MalwareSite AboutUs Template:MalwareSite]</ref>
==Popularity== AboutUs.com is an open directory, and does not restrict website owners from writing in their own comments, or referencing commercial information that is not necessarily notable; webmasters are permitted to engage in self-promotion.
AboutUs.com fills the gap for webmasters by encouraging the posting of information about all websites regardless of notability or commercial interest.
Because of the open editing policy, and inclusion of commercial sites, its volume of content grew rapidly. It was also popular among webmasters or website owners seeking to include their "about us" information on AboutUs.com, as a central point of summary information on the web.
==Funding== In November 2006, AboutUs closed its initial financing round for one million [[United States dollar|dollars]].<ref>Aliza Earnshaw, [http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/11/13/story2.html?page=1&b=1163394000^1374690 "Startup hits the money with biz wiki"], ''Portland Business Journal'', November 10, 2006</ref> In January 2009, AboutUs secured a $5 million funding round from [[Voyager Capital]].<ref>Aliza Earnshaw, [http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/01/12/story2.html "AboutUs nabs $5M infusion"], ''Portland Business Journal'', January 9, 2009</ref>
==See also== * [[DMOZ]] * [[Alexa Internet]] * [[List of companies based in Oregon]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.aboutus.com/ AboutUs.com] * Marshall Kilpatrick, "[https://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/14/aboutusorg-a-wiki-about-every-website/ AboutUs: A Wiki About Every Website]," ''[[TechCrunch]]'', 11/14/2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aboutus.com}} [[Category:MediaWiki websites]] [[Category:Web directories]] [[Category:Companies based in Portland, Oregon]] [[Category:Internet properties established in 2006]] [[Category:2006 establishments in Oregon]]