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{{short description|Software company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = NetObjects, Inc.
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}}
'''NetObjects, Inc.''' is a software company founded in 1995 by [[Samir Arora]], David Kleinberg, [[Clement Mok]] and Sal Arora. The company is best known for the development of [[NetObjects Fusion]], a [[web design]] application for [[small and medium enterprises]] with designers who need complete control over [[page layout]] and a similar [[Graphical user interface|user interface]] as [[desktop publishing]] applications.
In its first phase, NetObjects was based in [[Redwood City, California]], and ceased operations in 2001 after selling its assets to [[Website Pros]] (now [[Web.com]]) and a portfolio of patents to [[Macromedia]].
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| publisher = Novell, Inc. / NetObjects, Inc.
| date = 1998-10-21
|
|
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}}</ref> [[Mitsubishi]] and [[AT&T]] Ventures and the last round by Perseus Capital, L.L.C.
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| title = NetObjects chooses Big Blue fusion
| work = Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
|
| date=May 18, 1997
}}</ref><ref name="netobj-ibm">{{cite web
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| publisher = NetObjects, Inc.
| date = April 16, 1997
|
}}</ref><ref name="IBM_ARCHIVES_1997">{{cite news
| url = http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/year_1997.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041216110616/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/year_1997.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = December 16, 2004
| title = IBM Archives 1997
| work = IBM Archives
| publisher = [[IBM]]
|
}}</ref>
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NetObjects Fusion 1.0 was released in 1996. As the first complete web design tool it was seen as groundbreaking by technology observers. NetObjects was elected as one of "25 Cool Technology Companies" of 1996 by ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''.<ref name="Mok_2">{{cite web
|url
|title
|work
|publisher
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927032744/http://www.clementmok.com/onrecord/article.asp?ArticleID=21&d=1990
|archive-date = September 27, 2007
}}</ref>
Also in 1996, NetObjects Fusion won ''[[PC Magazine]]'''s Editors' Choice award. [[CNET]]'s Builder.com elected Samir Arora one of the Web Innovators of 1997,<ref name="INNOVATOR">{{cite web
|url
|first
|last
|title
|work
|publisher
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> and in 1998 NetObjects received the prestigious Gold award from the [[Industrial Designers Society of America]] (IDSA).<ref name="IDSA">{{cite web
| url = http://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/dh/idea_winners_95-99.pdf
| publisher = [[Industrial Designers Society of America]] (IDSA)
|
|
| url = http://idsa.org/whatis/seewhat/idea98/winners/netobjects.htm
| title = Gold Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) Winners 1995–1999
| publisher = [[Industrial Designers Society of America]] (IDSA)
|
|
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}}</ref>
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| publisher = NetObjects, Inc.
| date = August 8, 1996
|
}}</ref><ref name="NetObj-patent2">{{cite web
| url =
| title = Patent 6311196: "Method and apparatus for implementing web pages having master borders"
| publisher = Google Patents
| date = October 30, 2001
|
}}</ref><ref name="NetObj-patent3">{{cite web
| url =
| title = Patent 5911145: "Hierarchical structure editor for web sites"
| publisher = Google Patents
| date = June 8, 1999
|
}}</ref><ref name="NetObj-patent4">{{cite web
| url =
| title = Patent 5845299: "Draw-based editor for web pages"
| publisher = Google Patents
| date = December 1, 1998
|
}}</ref><ref name="NetObj-patent5">{{cite web
| url = http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22samir+arora%22&OS=%22samir+arora%22&RS=%22samir+arora%22
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| publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office
| date = October 2, 2007
|
}}</ref>
Releases 2.0 (1997) and 3.0 (1998) of NetObjects Fusion again gained positive reactions by the PC press as well as commercial success on the market. In 1999 IBM brought NetObjects to the [[stock exchange]] with [[initial public offering]] while remaining the major [[shareholder]]. The [[initial public offering]] (IPO) on [[NASDAQ]] raised $72 million.
The [[board of directors]] consisted of six people: Samir Arora as
=== Success on the market and the stock exchange ===
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| publisher = Google Groups
| date = July 16–18, 2001
|
}}</ref>
were made with nearly all the big [[Personal computer|PC]] sellers like [[Dell]] and [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]],<ref name="HP">{{cite web
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| publisher = MarketWatch, Inc.
| date = July 27, 2001
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}}</ref> and with [[Internet service provider]]s like [[UUNET]], [[Earthlink]] or 1 & 1 ([[Germany]]). The company itself said it licensed the [[Distribution (business)|distribution]] of more than 15 million copies of NetObjects Fusion.{{Needs citation|date=April 2024}}
In 2000 the [[stock]] price of NETO ([[ticker symbol]]) reached its record high of $45 11/16 USD, making NetObjects worth $1.5 billion.{{Needs citation|date=April 2024}}
[[Revenue]] had started at $7.2 million in 1997, reached $15 million in 1998, $23.2 million in 1999 and peaked at $34.2 million for [[fiscal year]] 2000 (October 1999 - September 2000).{{Needs citation|date=April 2024}}
On March 3, 2000, [[TheStreet.com]]'s Adam Lashinsky praised NetObject's financial performance and its early adoption of [[e-business]]:
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| work = TheStreet.Com
| date = March 22, 2000
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}}</ref>
</blockquote>
=== Shift in strategy ===
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| date = September 1, 1999
| publisher = Jupitermedia Corporation
|
| url = http://www.intranetjournal.com/reviews/noas30.shtml
| first = Gordon
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| year = 1999
| publisher = Jupitermedia Corporation
|
|url
|title
|work
|publisher
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> which as [[Content management system|content management solutions]] were aimed at big businesses and ranged at much higher price levels than NetObjects Fusion.
However, IBM and NetObjects decided that its target market was the sector of [[small and medium enterprises]], so it would focus on its flagship application NetObjects Fusion which would fit within the scope of these customers.<ref name="FT">{{cite web
|url
|first
|last
|title
|work
|publisher
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>
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| work = iSource Online
| publisher = Vulcan Publishing, Inc.
|
|
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}}</ref> and coined a strategy shift to a [[Subscription business model|subscription model]].<ref name="Lashinsky"/> To this end NetObjects Matrix<ref name="Newcomb2">{{cite news
| url = http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3411_809171
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| publisher = Jupitermedia Corporation
| date = June 11, 2001
|
}}</ref> was developed and GoBizGo.com, an e-commerce solution<ref name="GOBIZGO">{{cite web
| url =
| first = Heath H.
| last = Herel
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| publisher = Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.
| date = October 17, 2000
|
}}</ref> was started. Subscribing web and online services would help small businesses keep pace with the Internet.<ref name="FT"/> To finance this shift of strategy, the NetObjects Enterprise Division with 40 employees along with two applications, Collage and NetObjects Authoring Suite, was sold for $18 million to UK-based Merant<ref name="Newcomb1">{{cite news
| url = http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/559791
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| publisher = Jupitermedia Corporation
| date = January 12, 2001
|
}}</ref><ref name="ZDNet">{{cite web
|url
|last
|first
|title
|work
|publisher
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> (merged in 2004 with [[Serena Software]] Inc., based in [[San Mateo, California]]).
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| publisher = Jupitermedia Corporation
| date = June 12, 2001
|
}}</ref> and a cooperation with IBM Global Services was forged.<ref name="Newcomb2"/><ref name="IBM">{{cite web
| url = http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BB9227F21-D9C9-498F-A2EA-C9694C0B6322%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo
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| publisher = MarketWatch, Inc.
| date = June 11, 2001
|
}}</ref>
=== Challenges and crisis ===
However, several factors led NetObjects to a [[crisis]] starting in 2000.<ref name="NetObj-FY2000">{{cite web
| url = http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=57873
| title = NetObjects, Inc. announces fourth quarter and fiscal year-end 2000 results
| publisher = PR Newswire Europe Ltd.
| access-date = March 5, 2008
}}</ref> Tough [[competition]] from [[Microsoft]], [[Macromedia]] and [[Adobe Systems|Adobe]] put pressure on [[market share]] and falling prices of web-design [[Application software|application]]s affected revenues.<ref name="Tristram">{{cite web
| url = http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/pcwk/1410/pcwk0039.html
| last = Tristram
| first = Claire
| title = Crowded House
| work = ZDNet
| publisher = Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
| date = March 10, 1997
| access-date = June 28, 2008
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19991007050446/http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/pcwk/1410/pcwk0039.html
| archive-date = 1999-10-07
}}</ref> Also, long-term revenue effects of bundling deals in the [[software industry]] are controversial.<ref name="Bundling-discussions"/> NetObjects slashed prices for NetObjects Fusion from release 1.0 to release 4.0 by more than 50%. Older versions stayed in distribution for even lower prices. Technical demands for large business web sites changed and required direct access of [[programmer]]s to [[HTML]] [[Source code|code]] — which NetObjects Fusion was not designed for.<ref name="Another-upgrade">{{cite web
| url = http://groups.google.de/group/netobjects.fusion30.gen-discussion-windows/browse_thread/thread/da47321c078354c2/b9212481a8bd5853
| title = 'Another' Upgrade?
| work = netobjects.fusion30.gen-discuss
| publisher = Google Groups
| date = December 9–21, 1998
| access-date = March 5, 2008
}}</ref> Its target market were designers who need complete control over [[page layout]] and a similar [[Graphical user interface|user interface]] as [[desktop publishing]] applications.
=== IBM decisions and sale of NetObjects ===
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| title = NetObjects, Inc. announces financial results for its first quarter of FY2001
| publisher = PR Newswire Europe Ltd.
|
}}</ref>
a result of changing markets, price cuts, strategy shift to Software as a Service. Subscription fees from NetObjects Matrix started coming in but the company faced losses: total revenues for the first three quarters of FY 2001 were $4.22 million, whilst costs were $7.67 million.<ref name="SEC-NetObj-Jun01">{{cite web
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| publisher = Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C.
| date = August 14, 2001
|
}}</ref>
NetObjects started
NetObjects Fusion, NetObjects Matrix including the MatrixBuilder, BizGoBiz and other assets were sold to Website Pros (now [[Web.com]]), a web design and services company based in [[Jacksonville, Florida]]
| url = http://www.secinfo.com/dsvNq.4f8q2.htm
| title = Netobjects Inc · PRE 14C · For 9/30/01
| publisher = Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C.
| date = October 22, 2001
|
}}</ref>
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| work = Das große Interview
| publisher = NOF-Club Deutschland (NetObjects Fusion Userclub)
|
|
|
|language=de}}</ref> and offering subscription services based on this application, representing the mixed business model that was invented at NetObjects.
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| publisher = Website Pros
| date = February 12, 2008
|
}}</ref> and $2.5 million in 2008.<ref name="WEB.COM_IR_364546">{{cite web
| url = http://ir.web.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=364546
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| publisher = Web.com
| date = February 10, 2008
|
}}</ref> In May 2009 NetObjects Fusion was sold.<ref name="WEB.COM_SEC_2_2009">{{cite web
| url = http://ir.web.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1144204-09-40519
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| publisher = Web.com
| date = August 5, 2009
|
}}</ref>
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In May 2009 NetObjects Inc. was re-established as an independent company. It acquired the NetObjects Fusion product line from Web.com. A smaller part of the amount was transferred instantly, while $3.0 million remained payable from future revenue of NetObjects Fusion sales until 2013.<ref name="WEB.COM_SEC_2_2009" />
== Products ==
* NetObjects Fusion:
{{
Cite web
| url=http://www.netobjects.com/html/downloads.html
| url-status=live
| title=Product Updates and Downloads
| publisher=NetObjects
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421044729/http://www.netobjects.com/html/downloads.html
| archive-date=2021-04-21
| access-date=2021-05-20
}}
</ref>
* NetObjects Authoring Server: Collaborative Web development and [[content management system|content management solution]]. Created in 1999. Sold to UK-based Merant in 2000. After Merant's merger with Serena Software in 2004, distributed as "Collage". Discontinued in 2008.<ref name="TRENDS">{{cite web
| url = http://www.cmswatch.com/Trends/1179-Serena-Collage-to-go-off-into-the-sunset
| first = Tony
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| publisher = CMSWorks, Inc.
| date = March 12, 2008
|
}}</ref> The predecessor of
* NetObjects MatrixBuilder: Online Web Page and [[Web service|Web Service]] builder, first released in 2000. Sold to Website Pros (now [[Web.com|Newfold Digital]]) in 2001. Website Pros sold MatrixBuilder licenses directly to customers.<ref name="ANNUAL_11">
{{
Cite web
| url=http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/WSPI/351433097x0x189105/BED273D3-F558-48EF-9A1B-4248CFBEBEF8/Annual%20Report%20for%20Web.pdf
| url-status=dead
| title=Website Pros 2007 Annual Report
| date=2008-04-17
| publisher=Website Pros (Predecessor to Newfold Digital)
| via=[[Internet Archive]]
| at=Page 11 as printed on page (Page 21 as stored in PDF)
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172548if_/http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/WSPI/351433097x0x189105/BED273D3-F558-48EF-9A1B-4248CFBEBEF8/Annual%20Report%20for%20Web.pdf
| archive-date=2016-03-03
| access-date=2021-05-19
}}
</ref> Website Pros also used MatrixBuilder internally to develop websites for customers.<ref name="ANNUAL_5">
{{
Cite web
| url=http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/WSPI/351433097x0x189105/BED273D3-F558-48EF-9A1B-4248CFBEBEF8/Annual%20Report%20for%20Web.pdf
| url-status=dead
| title=Website Pros 2007 Annual Report
| date=2008-04-17
| publisher=Website Pros (Predecessor to Newfold Digital)
| via=[[Internet Archive]]
| at=Page 5 as printed on page (Page 15 as stored in PDF)
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172548if_/http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/WSPI/351433097x0x189105/BED273D3-F558-48EF-9A1B-4248CFBEBEF8/Annual%20Report%20for%20Web.pdf
| archive-date=2016-03-03
| access-date=2021-05-19
}}
</ref>
== References ==
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