JuicyCampus goes offline because of advertising woes

College gossip Web site JuicyCampus.com closed this week, citing economic woes and problems with advertisement revenue.

This site served as a platform for college students across the U.S. to anonymously post gossip for anyone to view. In the past year and a half, the controversial site reached more than 500 college campuses across the country, including Kent State.

JuicyCampus advertisers remained loyal, but spent less because of the recent state of the economy, according to JuicyCampus’ CEO.

“JuicyCampus worked tirelessly the past few weeks to exhaust all possible options for keeping the site open,” Matt Ivester, JuicyCampus founder and CEO, said in an e-mail interview. “It was not until Feb. 2, 2009, that the site realized that it would definitely need to shut down.”

Complaints about the site didn’t shut JuicyCampus down, Ivester said.

“Not at all,” Ivester said. “In fact, to the contrary, detractors of the site brought more attention and traffic, which meant less marketing spent and additional ad revenue.”

Kent State student Kate Cunningham won’t miss the gossip Web site.

“It’s like the bathroom wall of the Internet,” Cunningham said.

Student Andrew Murgola thinks another similar gossip site will eventually gain popularity soon.

“There’s plenty of other ways to spread gossip,” Murgola said. “I don’t think anyone noticed or anyone cared,” he said about the shutdown.

Ivester took to his blog to further explain the reasons for the site’s shutdown to loyal users.

“What a wild ride this has been!” Ivester wrote on Blogspot. “While there are parts of JuicyCampus that none of us will miss – the mean-spirited posts and personal attacks – it has also been a place for the fun, lighthearted gossip of college life. I hope that is how it is remembered. “

Contact student affairs reporter Jessica Roblin at [email protected].