I call shenanigans on the Adotas article.
First, the article itself is sufficiently riddled with typos (the most obvious one being the incorrect state abbreviation 'MA' for Massachusetts instead of 'WA' for Washington) to call its credibility into question on that basis alone.
Second, there's been no mention in either of the Seattle newspapers of 180Solutions abruptly closing up shop. And there hasn't been any mention at all of 180 in the TV news this weekend. Although 180 isn't a large employer on the scale of Microsoft or Boeing, it is large enough that if it abruptly closed, it would be newsworthy and therefore get some coverage.
My assessment: The Adotas article is an ineptly crafted April Fool's prank of dubious taste.
Wayne Porter, blogging at ReveNews, is reporting on speculation that 180solutions, the infamous adware company that’s been under fire by the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technololgy) and anti-spyware groups for at least 2 years, has been cleaning house, as in moving out of their offices in Bellevue, Washington.
Wayne writes:
I just received an e-mail heads up from Pesach Lattin that 180 Solutions, the company I always loved to report on, was "cleaning house". By cleaning house I do believe that Pesach meant shutting down- we will see if this is true.
The article at Adotas says:
ADOTAS has learned that adware company 180Solutions has cleaned out its Bellevue, MA headquarters and a source close to the company tells us its other offices are to follow. The company, which as of late has lost clients like AzoogleAds and has been under fire with a formal complaint by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), has, according to the source, left their offices completely empty save a maid service which the company apparently hired to “clean up their act”.
Before you get too excited, read on where an unnamed 180 executive says this might be “just a clever guerilla PR tactic”.
April Fools? Darn!
Another ReveNews blogger, Jimmy Daniels, posted an interview with a former 180 employee. The ex-employee gives some fascinating insight into the company and what it was like to work there.
