Examining the names of Web 2.0 startups: part 3 (#7-10) ~ Bad Product Names

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Examining the names of Web 2.0 startups: part 3 (#7-10)

The name reviews continue with part 3 of Business 2.0's Top 25 Web Startups.

7. Dabble




Another video site, but this one deals with sharing your favorites among friends. The name kinda makes sense, as it allows your friends to "dabble" in your video collections. From the name itself I didn't think of videos right way; I first though of art or drawing programs. Nothing too bad about this name, maybe a bit unoriginal though and it has an unfortunate logo.
Pros: relatively short name, makes sense in some ways
Cons: name isn't obviously functional, bad logo

8. Metacafe



A YouTube clone with a twist- users can earn money if their videos get a high view count. The name itself doesn't suggest anything in particular about this aspect of the site. It seems like they just took a random word from the dictionary and added the meta- prefix to it. Seems to be a copycat name since other "meta-" sites exist. You would think that it would have something to do with food!
Pros: none in particular
Cons: name is not related to the site's function, combination of 2 seemingly random words

9. Revision3



A site for watching online shows such as diggnation. I totally don't get the name at all. Why 3? What happened to revisions 1 and 2? From those thoughts alone, the site's name isn't very good nor memorable. Even if they did go through several revisions (who doesn't?), you don't need to flaunt it.
Pros: none
Cons: meaningless name, has bad connotation, number in name

10. blip.tv



Yet another site for watching online shows. The name is short and memorable and the only flaw is that it has the .tv suffix (it makes sense though) where almost everything nowadays is usually .com.
Pros: short, catchy name
Cons: .tv extension instead of the more prominent .com


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've about had it with these web 2.0 companies. First I saw a huge logo comparison for them, and it turned out they were all similar and meaningless! Now you're pointing out how ridiculous the names are! (and you're right!)

Don't forget the "beta" on a lot of the names!

john said...

I feel the same way also, it seems like everyone wants to be the next MySpace and YouTube. Wonder if there will actually be a "web 2.0 bust" similar to the dot-com bust of the late '90s?

1Y0-259 said...

Yeah! First I saw a huge logo comparison for them, and it turned out they were all similar and meaningless! Yes its fact.

testking 70-448 said...

Its seems just like a race that everyone wants to become like facebook and youtube....but now a days its really difficult...i think.

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