Jelly Cloud , the company formerly known as Claria, and before that Gator, is finally joining the dodopool , according to Valleywag.
Gator first launched in 1998 with a “companion service” that offered to autofill in site passwords and deliver users great savings when buying things online, and was regularly offered in conjunction with other programs, including Kazaa. The nicest definition for Gator was adware, inserting adcertising into browser sessions, and causing some reasonable havoc along, although others described it as malware and spyware.
Gator changed its name to Claria Corporation in 2003 in an attempt to reposition the company from its sordid past. The “reformed” company took a staggering $40 million in 2006 from Comdisco Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Garage Technology Ventures, Greylock Partners, Rogers Communications, Sand Hill Capital, SOFTBANK America, Technology Crossover Ventures, and U.S. Venture Partners shortly after promising to exit the adware/ spyware business. As Jelly Cloud, now reformed as an “ad network,” the company pulled $11.5 million in March this year from U.S. Venture Partners, SoftBank, Sand Hill Capital and Cross Link Capital.
The dodopool entry isn’t confirmed yet, but you’ve got to question a market that invests $11.5m in a company with a history such as this. Only one word comes to mind: bubble.
