In a somewhat surprising move, AOL/Huffington Post has shut down popular software blog Download Squad, according to its editor, Sebastian Anthony, who shared the news on Twitter.
The site itself is still available, with the last post being dated yesterday, April 11. But Anthony is certain that the decision to shut down Download Squad is final, and believes it will be officially announced today. “It’s hard to believe, but, yes, @DownloadSquad is shutting down,” tweeted Anthony last night.
Download Squad was a highly prolific blog covering all types of software: desktop, mobile, and software residing in the cloud; it was one of the best destinations to go if you wanted news about new versions of popular software. As part of popular blog network Weblogs, Inc. – together with Engadget, TechCrunch, TUAW and Joystiq, to name a few – it was purchased by AOL in October 2005. In 2008, ComputerWorld named Download Squad one of the “top ten best-written blogs.”
In the age of the cloud, everyone is perhaps less concerned with desktop software – which was arguably one of the most important topics on Download Squad – than before, but it’s hard to believe that the interest is so low that one of the most well-known blogs in this area couldn’t attract enough audience or advertisers.
What do you think, why did AOL shut down Download Squad? Was it the right move? Please, share your opinions in the comments.
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