Old school knowledge website About.com is no more. The company, which to the surprise of many was still operating, rebranded itself today as “Dotdash” and launched a range of six new supporting subsites.

Founded in 1996 as The Mining Company before becoming About.com in 1999, the site provided curated data and information on a range of topic areas that at its peak hit 1,800 verticals before being paired back to 700. The company was acquired by Primedia, Inc. at the height of the dot-com boom in 2000 for $690 million, followed by the New York Times Co. in 2005 for the lower sum of $410 million. Its current owner, IAC Corp., acquired About.com for $300 million in 2012.

IAC led the rebranding, which includes the launch of six new content specific websites: Verywell (health), The Spruce (home), The Balance (personal finance), Lifewire (tech), ThoughtCo (education) and the “soon to be launched” TripSavvy (travel).

At first glance, the sites seem to primarily include the same sort of content that was originally found on About.com, for example an article on ThoughtCo titled “Allowances Available to Members of US Congress” providing information specifically on that topic. One notable change, however, is that at least some of the content has shifted away from the dry information articles for which About.com was previously known, in favor of “listicles,” articles that provide lists of things — for example, a post on The Spruce titled “10 Paper Flower Wreaths You Can DIY.”

“Our new name speaks to the remarkable evolution of our business into a world-class premium publisher,” Dotdash Chief Executive Officer Neil Vogel said in a statement. “The Dot in Dotdash is a nod to our 20-year history, as a red dot has always been a part of the About.com visual identity, and the dash suggests forward motion and action.”

Although not spelled out specifically by the company, the splitting off into content specific verticals makes some sense. The company can now sell advertising on each site based on its specific vertical, whereas before, About.com had various verticals all on the one site, making it a harder sell to advertisers.

Although the change may be mourned by few, the demise of About.com represents the passing of a website that dates back to the first online boom. R.I.P., About.com, 1999-2017.

Image: Dotdash