NebuAd, the company that thought slurping up ISP data to better target ads was a good idea, has closed. Court documents filed this week in a class-action claim brought against the company show that NebuAd laid off most staff last year and now pays only a skeleton crew to wind things down in an orderly fashion.

The basic scheme was simple: pay ISPs for the privilege of inserting a box into their networks, grab URLs that customers visited, then mine them and assign users to interest categories. Websites could then use the data to better sell targeted ads, which would command higher premiums than untargeted ones. Unfortunately for NebuAd, customers weren't thrilled with the idea, and neither was Congress.

After a series of hearings last year, the company abandoned its approach, shut down the trials, and said that it would try something new. But the money wasn't there to continue, it appears, and the company is gone. It's domain name still exists, but the corporate "website" (if one can call it that) is a husk of its former self.

Nice website

Farewell, NebuAd—though we can't say that we'll miss your approach to ad sales.