Lycos is a search engine and web portal, founded in 1994 as a project that spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. It began as a research project by Michael Loren Mauldin.
Funded by venture capital funding CMGI with a capital of $2 million, it was launched on April 13th, 1995 with Bob Davis as the CEO and first employee.
The company made its first move as an advertising-supported web portal, and enjoyed a massive growth to become one of the most visited website in the world in 90s.
Available in more than 40 countries at that time with hundreds of employees, the company thrived at the center of the internet revolution. It completed the fastest IPO offering in NASDAQ history, and became one of the first profitable internet businesses in the world.
Lycos popularity at the time has made it earned the title "Yahoo! Killer."
When Google was founded, years later it released its ad product. Google's approach was to give all-text ads on its website, something that was an opposite to people's mindset at the time. Lycos was focused on getting advertisers what they want, but Google was giving advertisers what they needed. Google traded short-term revenue Lycos has been focusing, for a long-term prosperity.
And when Google finally launched its ad program, it was the beginning of the end for Lycos's reign.
Lycos is seen as one of the internet companies that survived the dot-com bubble. But since then, the company has traded hands several times.
As Google has dominated the internet search, many has failed to compete. Lycos however, keeps on living with many of its old properties still intact.