Bubblews.com Website Shuts Down - Domain Name Purchased by New Owner Awhile Back

Latest update: January 16, 2023. Page URL indicates original publication date; meanwhile, times change and the updates continue.

January 2023 Update

Yep, the site has been re-registered for another year. Interestingly the registrar is listed as: GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd.

Cayman Islands? What's that about? Meanwhile, I still can't find any search engines that will list the Bubblews.com website in their search results.

August 2022 Update

Even though the site is still registered, the search engines continue to not list it directly; best guess is that there is no longer an actual site. I am curious, but I still will not enter the domain name into the browser address bar. The current registration expires 2022/10/11. Will Bubblews.com be re-registered for another year? The drama continues...

April 2021 Update

Bubblews still deader than a door nail. Google still showing thousands of obsolete search results. This page appears to be the only one out there with current and accurate information. Meanwhile, the domain name still keeps being re-registered one year at a time: whois.

July 2020 Update

Am surprised at the amount of inaccurate data still on the search engines. Bubblews has been dead and gone for years, yet there are websites out there that still think Bubblews is an existing and functional site.

March 2020 Update

Nothing really new to report. As for this review page you are now reading, it has pretty much turned into a historical document about the demise of Bubblews. If interested, this page probably has everything one would ever want to know on the subject; plus, several links are included that may provide additional information. The comments have proven interesting as well.

October 2019 Update

According to whois, looks like the domain name has been renewed yet again. New expiration date is 2020-10-11. Privacy option not being used this time. Can't help but wonder:
  • What she knows?
  • Does she have any ties to the original owner?
  • What, if anything, is going on there?
Google still apparently refuses to index the actual site. My current speculation is the site is just a page with ads on it. What with there apparently still being curiosity seekers, the page is probably actually getting some traffic. Kind of smart really; buying well-known, defunct domain names and putting ads on it for the curious and others; again, just my speculation. If Google ever decides to re-index the site; I might be willing to drop by.

July 2019 Update

Google still apparently refuses to index the actual domain name, so I'm still not going anywhere near there because of what kind of junk ad cookies they might put on my computer. If Bubblews is again operational, Google is also apparently refusing to index any of their articles. I checked whois again:
Who knows? Maybe my speculations, induced by my previous experiences with them, is simply nothing more than paranoia on my part. For all I know, going there might bring up nothing more than a parked domain name that someone is trying to sell. Good luck with that.

January 2019 Update

According to Google, gone but not forgotten. If you are researching Bubblews for some reason, there are relevant links further down the page along with the information. I did a whois search and see that the new owner is still keeping the domain name registration current. I am still not going to attempt to visit the Bubblews domain. In my opinion, it's too risky; especially since Google won't index it. For that matter, there's a chance there isn't even a website there and the domain name is being registered just for placeholder reasons. Or maybe someone registered it just to put up a domain name "For Sale" sign, thinking the site's former infamy might be worth something.

February 2018 Update

I'm seeing posts in Google Search that seem to indicate that Bubblews has reopened. Frankly, I'm not going to attempt to go there to find out; am too concerned about what kind of junk advertiser cookies they might put on my machine. What is really interesting, if they are indeed open, is that Google appears to be unwilling to index and include that specific website directly in their search results.

October-November 2017 Update(s)

A possibly new owner has purchased the bubblews.com domain name. It can't be a coincidence; the new owner had to have known about the domain name's previous reputation.

Owner identity unknown, https://www.whois.com/whois/bubblews.com (opens in new tab).

Registrar and server farm may have questionable reputations? Do search for: 2635 Walnut Street Denver Colorado

It all seems just a little odd and a little off. For security reasons, am not going near that domain just yet. No doubt others will be landing there; we will hear soon enough as to site safety, owner intentions, etc.

Original Article About Previous Bubblews Owner


The Shutdown of Bubblews.com

November 2015

Here's what they had to say for themselves...

[Start] "Greetings, After being up and running for almost 3 years now we regrettably need to inform you that we will be shutting Bubblews.com down. The climate for display advertising has drastically changed and made it impossible for us to sustain the business model and operations. We want to thank everyone that was a part of this journey. We wish you all the very best. –Bubblews" [End]

Contrary to what the Bubblews farewell post says, the shutdown appears to have been immediate and without warning. It is being reported writers attempting to retrieve their articles are greeted with a 404 message instead. In other words, it looks like the writers' articles are gone forever and cannot be retrieved.

I can't help but wonder how many lawsuits have already been and soon will be filed. I consider it highly probable Bubblews will be filing for bankruptcy. For that matter, they may have done so at the same time the website shutdown; unknown at this point. On a personal note, I am one of the many thousands of writers who also never received payment from Bubblews for what I was owed; and that is from over a year ago.

Update #1:

Most forum and blog posts across the internet about the Bubblews shutdown are celebratory in nature.

Twitter (#bubblews) is also busily engaged. Interestingly, along with the posts about the shutdown, there continues to be postings of links to Bubblews articles. However, clicking the link results in the expected 404-Not-Found message. Looks like those who set their tweets to automatic haven't gotten the word yet...

Update #2:

#bubblews continues to be active at Twitter with the automated tweets still trying to send visitors to defunct Bubblews articles. As opposed to yesterday's 404's, all article links are now being redirected to the main domain and the displayed Bubblews-is-shutting-down message. Are all those auto-Tweeters really that clueless, or is it a deliberate attempt to bury/hide the posts about the actual shutdown?

Bubblews and the Better Business Bureau ( BBB ). Even though there are media reports of thousands of people not being paid, there are only 107 complaints listed by the BBB. The BBB actually seemed pretty clueless about Bubblews at first, but eventually the BBB apparently woke up; though as of this post, the BBB is apparently still unaware Bubblews is now defunct. I guess the BBB can't really be blamed, they only know what people take the time to tell them. I'll drop them a note. [Update: I tried, but too many obstructions. Oh, well.]

As for my earlier lawsuits speculations, forget it. If only 107 out of 1000's of victims bothered to complain to the BBB, then probably zero would work up the energy to sue. Besides, what with Bubblews being an LLC and the bankruptcy backdoor, what would be the point?

Bubblews and Linkedin. As of this post, no acknowledgement yet as to Bubblews' now defunct status. At the moment, the venture capitalists who invested in Bubblews are still listed there.

Arvind Dixit (Bubblews CEO) and Linkedin. No updates yet there either. Arvind might want to delete the part of his profile that says, "CEO & Co-Founder Arvind “Avi” Dixit is responsible for the strategic direction and ex-ecution (sic) of the Bubblews.com company vision."

Arvind might be interesting to check on now and again in the future.

Bubblews and Facebook. Looks like Bubblews pretty much abandoned their Facebook account in July.

Their Twitter account appears to have been abandoned in August.

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7 comments:

  1. As you sow so shall you reap. They treated their loyal members as dirt and now they are rolling in dirt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I suspect a lot of those auto-Tweets were set up by Bubblers who had given up on their Bubblews accounts a long time ago, but hadn't bothered to stop their auto-tweets. Most people on the internet are totally cr@p at housekeeping!

    I love that "Bubblews WILL BE closing down" wording, too - as if they're giving a few days' warning!! It's certainly not alone in closing down without warning, it's the rule rather than the exception with failed sites in my experience.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe I'm getting paranoid but I'm feeling a bit jumpy about Infobarrel's new incarnation - they've taken on two employees to launch a brand new, improved Infobarrel. Both have Indian-sounding names. I hope it's just a coincidence!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was also a bubblews member. What hurts me the most is the loss of many friends(mostly Filipinos) I made during my whole duration there. Life will never be the same again!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have written for Bubblews.com, but not for a year or so. I never experienced any of the negative vibe that others did. I lost about $75 because I haven't needed the money and put off withdrawing. Online markets that value good writing are shrinking. Where are the millions of people who were suddenly writers last year going to earn a little play money now?

    ReplyDelete
  6. they really s uckered us all and a lot of my freiends are owed a l ot of m oney to

    ReplyDelete
  7. I use to write on Bubblews. Are they back and how can I start again?

    ReplyDelete

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