Top 5 Web 2.0 Failures of 2010

There were a lot of web 2.0 successes in 2010, but with the group of successful ventures comes another group of equally unimpressive attempts. Some grabbed some level of attention shortly and others were doomed for the start. It's fun to look back and see where they went wrong and analyze painful mistake after painful mistake. It takes something special to win big, but the same can be said for something that completely misses the mark.

Chatroulette

In what will forever go down as a flash of stardom followed by complete destruction, Chatroulette is a pure example of a suddenly hot to suddenly not web phenomenon. Out of nowhere a 17 year old programmer created and released Chatroulette into the public. It took off overnight and was infamous for the people that gravitated towards it. Obscenity haunted Chatroulette from day one and doomed it from the start. It tried to save itself with a 2nd version, but eventually fizzled out.

The New Digg

In a real "huh?" type of moment, the new Digg launched earlier this year. Immediately critics took to it and tore it apart. Faithful users hated it and others mocked it. The new Digg blew up in Kevin Rose's face and was a public humiliation. Digg has worked to stop the bleeding but many believe the social bookmarking service will never fully recover. It's a shame, but sometimes change is a bad thing.

Google Buzz

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it does it make a sound? If Google releases a social service and nobody uses it does it matter? Google tried to make Buzz a new Facebook/Twitter/something competitor but the hype didn't last long. Although still active, Buzz has never really been active. Even the Gmail advocates stay away for the most part. Google Buzz will eventually join Google Wave as a failed attempt. The good news is that next year we'll see a new social network attempt from the company. Hopefully it'll erase any memory of the failure of Buzz.

Ask.com

Remember Ask Jeeves? If not, no big deal because Ask.com is essentially dead now. In 2010 the once prominent web 2.0 search engine decided to focus primarily on Q&A. The latest incarnation never really gained any traction and cutting losses was probably a smart move, however it's hard not to consider Ask.com a failure.

Microsoft Kin

The kin wasn't just bad, it was  a flat out joke. After promoting the new phone heavily in early 2010, Microsoft eventually shelved the product after low sales. Don't forget that millions of dollars were wasted for such a lackluster offering. Microsoft not only under delivered, it did so after hyping up this poor excuse of a web 2.0 smart phone.