Tripod (web hosting)
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Web hosting service |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Bo Peabody, Brett Hershey, Dick Sabot |
| Headquarters | Williamstown, Massachusetts , United States |
| Products | Web hosting services (subscription-based personal and professional plans) |
| Owner | Lycos |
Tripod.com is a web hosting service under the ownership of Lycos. Originally designed for college students and young adults, it emerged during the 1990s as part of the pioneering movement in user-generated content and online social networks. The platform has since phased out free webpage creation, shifting exclusively to subscription-based offerings.
Services
Currently, Tripod provides two subscription-based hosting packages: "personal" and "professional." These plans vary in terms of features and storage capacity and are both supported by the "Lycos Publish" web authoring platform. This system replaced the previous general hosting setup and discontinued all free hosting options.
In its earlier phase, Tripod offered both free and premium hosting services with 20 megabytes of storage space and support for Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting using Perl. The service suite included tools such as a blogging platform, photo album management, and the Trellix WYSIWYG website builder. Paid subscriptions unlocked additional disk space, integrated shopping carts, domain name registration, as well as webmail with POP and IMAP email support.
History
Tripod was established in 1992 by Williams College alumni Bo Peabody and Brett Hershey, alongside economics professor Dick Sabot. Based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Peabody took on the role of CEO. The company also produced Tools for Life magazine, which was distributed alongside textbooks, and provided student discount cards.
Website launch
The domain Tripod.com was registered on September 29, 1994, with the official website launching in 1995 following a preview period. It was promoted as a trendy web portal and subscription service created by and for college students, offering practical guidance tailored to young adults living independently. Revenue generation relied on modest user fees combined with affiliate commissions. Early site features included résumé-building assistance and a straightforward homepage creation tool.
Although initially a secondary focus, Tripod gained prominence for its free webpage creation services, competing directly with GeoCities and Angelfire. CEO Peabody highlighted the importance of fostering community through user-generated content, positioning Tripod in contrast to AOL’s closed ecosystem. A review by the Washington Post favored Tripod over GeoCities due to simpler URL structures and improved site reliability.
Investment and buyout
Following an initial venture capital investment of US$4 million led by New Enterprises Associates in May 1997, Tripod raised an additional US$10 million in funding. At that time, the company employed around 40 people and targeted profitability by the first quarter of 1998. Investors included Interpublic Group, which purchased a 10% stake for US$2.5 million, valuing Tripod at approximately US$25 million. On February 3, 1998, Lycos acquired Tripod for roughly US$58 million in stock.
Lycos also gained ownership of Tripod’s competitor Angelfire through its acquisition of WhoWhere, maintaining both services simultaneously: Tripod focused on college-age users while Angelfire catered to high school audiences. By early 2001, registered users on Tripod had expanded from nearly one million at acquisition to six million, with about 250,000 new websites created monthly. Despite this growth, profitability remained challenging due to difficulties in user profiling and monetization strategies that avoided alienating users. Later that year, both Tripod and Angelfire launched paid ad-free account options—a business model soon adopted by GeoCities under Yahoo!.
In 2009, Tripod ceased offering free hosting; all new users were required to subscribe to paid plans for access.
Domain name
Websites created on Tripod are generally hosted as subdomains under tripod.com. By subscribing to a monthly plan, users can register their own custom domain names and receive perks like expanded storage capacity and tailored email services.