Mister Wong
Type of site | Social bookmarking |
|---|---|
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Yes |
| Launched | March 2006 |
| Current status | Defunct |
Mister Wong was one of the largest European free social bookmarking web services.[1]
History
The website was a German startup, established in 2006. Kai Tietjen had been running an ad agency for nearly a decade, when, in March 2006, he entered the field of web entrepreneurship[2] with the idea to "take on Google". Investing mostly his own money, he created a website that allows customers to bookmark their favorite sites, and then uses those bookmarks as the basic data for its search engine : to find a popular site, a user can search all other users' bookmarks.[3] The service ceased operation after being sold for €2500 in October 2016. [4]
The service was available in German, English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and French.
Origin of name
The website extols its users to "Wong the Web!", a reference to the practice of Wonging, often employed by card counters in Blackjack.
Controversy
Mister Wong's original logo,[5] depicting a "cartoonish, nerdy East Asian man", brought on protests from many Asian-Americans.[6] The website's creator subsequently issued an apology and removed the logo.[7]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Mister Wong company profile". CrunchBase.
- ^ "Kai Tietjen, CEO & Founder of Construktiv", 2006
- ^ "Creating Buzz (Without Hate Mail)", Newsweek, October 27, 2007
- ^ "Mister Wong: Ehemaliger Social-Bookmarking-Star für 2.500 Euro verramscht". OnlineHändler News.de. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- ^ flickr.com stored image
- ^ "Mister Wong Isn't Laughing Anymore", Der Spiegel online in German
- ^ A Message from the Founder, Kai Tietjen, July, 27 2007 Archived 2010-06-07 at the Wayback Machine