LinkExchange explained

LinkExchange was a popular Internet advertising cooperative, similar in function to a webring, originally known as Internet Link Exchange or ILE.

It was founded in March 1996 by 23-year-old Harvard graduates Tony Hsieh (who later went on to invest in and become the CEO of Zappos) and Sanjay Madan.[1] Ali Partovi later joined them as a third partner in August 1996.[2] Alfred Lin dropped out of his Stanford PhD program to join as CFO.[3] In November 1996, when the company consisted of about 10 people, it moved from Hsieh's and Madan's living room to an office[4] in San Francisco. In May 1997, the company received US$3 million in funding from Sequoia Capital.[5]

In June 1998, LinkExchange acquired MerchantPlanet, an early shopping cart and credit card application.[6] That same month it also acquired Submit It! Inc., developers of Submit It!, ClickTrade, and ListBot.[7]

In November 1998, when LinkExchange had 100 employees, it was acquired by Microsoft[8] for US$265 million.[9]

LinkExchange stopped taking new applications on November 15, 2006. On June 4, 2007 it stopped serving banners.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The American Dream: Running Your Own Show. Perla. Ni. May 27, 1999. AsianWeek. July 10, 2015. July 11, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150711041407/http://ibconsultants.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Running-Your-Own-Show.pdf. dead.
  2. Web site: Ali Partovi on LinkedIn. LinkedIn. 10 July 2015.
  3. Web site: Alfred Lin Has The Midas Touch: The Man With $2 Billion In Acquisitions Under His Belt. 2021-10-15. TechCrunch. 28 July 2009. en-US.
  4. Web site: Company Info . LinkExchange.com . https://web.archive.org/web/19980128015233/http://linkexchange.com/compinfo/comp_index.html . January 28, 1998 . dead .
  5. Book: LinkExchange: King of Niche and Reach. Net Results: Web Marketing That Works. 1998. Hayden Books. 1-56830-414-5. https://web.archive.org/web/20080725052228/http://docs.rinet.ru/WebBazar/ch09/ch09.htm#Heading14. 2008-07-25.
  6. Web site: LinkExchange buys e-commerce site. Advertising Age. June 22, 1998.
  7. Web site: LinkExchange Acquires Submit It!. ClickZ. June 24, 1998.
  8. Web site: Microsoft Buys LinkExchange For About $250 Million in Stock. Wall Street Journal. November 5, 1998.
  9. Web site: Bios: Tony HsieL. Zappos.com.
  10. Web site: Microsoft's bCentral LinkExchange Banner Network Shuts Down. https://web.archive.org/web/20111102174037/https://www.hashemian.com/blog/2007/05/microsofts-bcentral-linkexchange-banner-network-shuts-down.htm. 2011-11-02.

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