A subtle change at Web18, which holds some of Network18's Internet and Mobile businesses: CricketNext, the Cricket website it acquired in 2006, and tried to build as a separate brand competing with ESPNCricinfo, has been amalgamated into its channel specific website IBNLive.com (hat tip: Surinder Singh). Where it was once at CricketNext.com it now appears to be IBNLive CricketNext, hosted at IBNLive.in.com/cricketnext. Their social media presence, including the Twitter account, still points to the old URL. CricketNext was a key component of Web18's portal launching frenzy - eying an IPO, over a three year period, the company launched/invested in several individual websites: EasyMF.com, cricketnext.com, compareindia.com, homeshop18.com, bookmyshow.com, josh18.com, awaaz karobar, IBN Khabar, buzz18.com, poweryourtrade.com, indiwo.com, tech2.com, biztech2.com, indiaearnings.com, storeguru.com, blish.in.com, and in.com. Many of these portals were amalgamated into In.com. In my opinion, it was a confused rollout, with the company sometimes running multiple portals for the same segment simultaneously - HomeShop18 and StoreGuru, IBNKhabar and Josh18, IBNLive covered tech, but Web18 also ran Tech2 and BizTech2. Buzz18, Josh18 and StoreGuru were integrated into In.com, Indiwo and Blish were shuttered. Still confused? Even now, Network18 runs two English news sites (FirstPost.com and IBNLive) and three local information businesses (Burrp, AskMe, Yellowpages.co.in). IBNLive has tech, but Web18 also runs Tech2 and BizTech2. The problem for Web18 is that it has always been (it appears to me, from the outside) one of convergence between web and TV: it appears to have been split between the challenges of building out properties attached to the TV Channels, and properties…
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