This business started in 2010 and focused on software and hardware. It showed promise at first but closed down in 2015. The reason was simple: there was not enough demand in the market.

General Information

• Category: Software & Hardware
• Started: 2010
• Failure Cause: No Market Need
• Closed: 2015

Description

Freebase was an important knowledge base created by community members.It collected data from reliable sources like Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, and the Notable Names Database.

Users could add metadata in various categories without needing programming skills.

This made it easier for people and AI systems to collect information.

In 2010, Google purchased Metaweb, the company that developed Freebase.

Cause of Failure

Over the years, Google has acquired many tools and services. Freebase was one of them. It didn’t fail but became part of a bigger project.

The database had over 46 million topics. It contributed to Google’s Knowledge Graph, collaborating with sources like Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook.In December 2014, Google decided to shut down Freebase. The plan was to move all data to the Wikidata project by March 2015.

All Freebase APIs were replaced with those linked to the Knowledge Graph. Finally, on June 20, 2015, Freebase was closed.

Here are some of the reasons they provided:

“They expressed a strong belief in the importance of a community-driven effort to gather and curate structured knowledge about the world. But, they now felt that the best way to support this goal was by backing Wikidata, noting its rapid growth, active community, and suitability to lead an open collaborative knowledge base.”

FAQs

– What was Freebase? 

Freebase was a knowledge base built by the community. It gathered and organized data from trusted sources. Anyone could add information without needing coding skills.

– Why did Freebase close? 

In 2015, Freebase shut down. Google wanted to streamline its data and focus on Wikidata, which fit better for community-based knowledge sharing.

– How did Freebase impact the Knowledge Graph? 

Freebase added over 46 million topics to Google’s Knowledge Graph. This helped make the information from Google more accurate and extensive.

– Can the data from Freebase still be accessed? 

Freebase is no longer active, but its data moved to Wikidata. Users can still find and add to this structured knowledge there.