Online poll site BuzzDash shutting after failing to raise round

April 11, 2009 | Dean Takahashi | Comments | |

BuzzDash is shutting down due to lack of funding. The online polling site was one of a number of sites that let users create their own polls. We used it frequently here on VentureBeat.

In a note to users sent Friday night, BuzzDash founder and chief executive David Gerken said that BuzzDash will be “winding down in seven days.” He added, “We truly appreciate everyone’s involvement in creating a national forum where people can gauge and share opinions on everything. Over our two and a half year history, you’ve done just that, and we’re proud to have been a part of it. From the entire BuzzDash team, thank you, and all the best.”

Gerken started the site in February, 2007. Users were able to create their own polls and post them on the site. Ads appeared alongside them. There are more than 12,000 polls currently running on the site. Users were also able to create their own poll widgets, dubbed Buzzbites, which they could embed on their own web sites.

In an email, Gerken confirmed the pending shutdown and said BuzzDash tried to set itself apart “as an editorially-managed social polling forum, rather than simply a posting board for user polls or a polling widget tool.” Thanks to the oversight, there were fewer duplicate polls and the wording was fairly neutral.

After next week, Gerken said he is looking at options to keep the site in “live hybernation” for a period, enabling current polls to keep running.

The theory was that polls are more engaging for web site readers and thus offer a way for web sites to deepen reader engagement and keep them on the site longer.

Back in October, Automattic acquired one of BuzzDash’s rivals, PollDaddy. Automattic, which owns the WordPress blogging platform, said at the time that a polling plug-in was one of the top 10 WordPress plug-ins bloggers use.

Here’s our own poll to fit today’s occasion:

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About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Frank
    God forbid these companies find a way to make profits.
  • Billy
    It would be a shame to throw everything away. If they can repackage BuzzDash to a stand alone script priced at $200-$500, I would gladly pay money for it.