14 DAY TRIAL // Xmarks, the troubled bookmark sync service, has just announced that it is very close to being acquired and that the new owner will continue to offer the free service as well as a paid one.
A little over a month ago Xmarks announced that it will be shutting down since its business wasn't sustainable. An outpour of support from its users led it to seek new options and the company now says things are looking up, though the actual sale hasn't been finalized.
"I’m pleased to announce that we’re in the final stages of completing a sale of Xmarks to a new owner who is 100% committed to keep our great browser sync service running smoothly," James Joaquin, CEO of Xmarks, announced.
"The Xmarks service will evolve to have both a free component and a premium component – we’ll share all the details once the deal is done," he explained.
Since the sale is not 100 percent complete, he was unable to provide too many details and the name of the company taking over Xmarks hasn't been revealed.
Still, things are looking promising for Xmarks' two million users which will be able to continue to use the cross-browser bookmark sync service.
Xmarks started out as Foxmarks, a Firefox add-on for bookmark synchronization. The add-on was to remain free and the company wanted to make money from the bookmark data it gathered from its millions of users.
All that data provided a great way for determining relevance for websites around any topic. The company was later renamed Xmarks and provided add-ons for several other browsers, making it the first cross-browser bookmark sync service.
Unfortunately, the company was never able to monetize its data and with both Firefox and Chrome coming with built-in bookmark sync, the decision was made to shut it down. Now though, it looks like another company is going have a crack at it.
"For all of you that signed our pledge, or are asking us to reopen the pledge, please hold that thought," Joaquin added.
"When we update the service we’ll have a premium option for you to spend some of your hard earned money on, and we will be very thankful when you do!," he added.