Consumating
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
Some sections are still being researched1 / 4
Sections to complete：02
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Consumating was a social network founded in 2003 by Brown (later of XOXCO), aimed at finding friends and romantic partners online. With the tagline 'Find People Who Don't Suck,' it let users build profiles by answering quiz questions, get tagged by others, search by loose age ranges (20s, 30s) and tags, and embed widgets streaming member profiles onto any web page. Acquired by CNET Networks in late 2005, it was relaunched with a new interface, but was shut down around 2007, its permalinks lost.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Consumating.com was founded as a social network for finding friends and partners, built around profiles, quizzes, and tagging.
- Acquired by CNET
Consumating was acquired by CNET Networks in December 2005 and relaunched with a new interface and features.
- Shut down
The site was shut down around 2007 with all permalinks lost; its founders Brown and Spence returned to Austin to later launch XOXCO.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Founded in 2003 as a consumer social network.
- 02
The company was acquired by CNET (reports point to a 2005–2006 acquisition and a 2007 shutdown).
- 03
No audited loss figure was publicly disclosed.