Ask HN: Why did the other portals (Excite, Lycos, etc.) totally fail?

3 pointsbiznerd1 comment

There were a bunch of other portals. Most notably Excite and Lycos. They were worth billions of dollars. Now they're gone. Yahoo reigns supreme. Why?

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Their Alibaba investment is going to net them 20 - 30 billion. Basically what the entire Yahoo market cap is currently worth. So, in essense, investors are valuing Yahoo itself at $0.

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