Google Buys Dodgeball Online

Founded in 2000, Dodgeball was ahead of its time. Operating primarily via SMS in an era before smartphones and GPS were ubiquitous, the service allowed users to "check in" to locations by texting their whereabouts to a central number. The platform then broadcast this information to friends and "crushes" within a certain proximity, effectively creating a real-time social map of urban public spaces. Google’s Acquisition and Stagnation

: Critics later noted that Google appeared more interested in the founders' engineering talent than in scaling the Dodgeball service itself. The Frustrated Departure and Foursquare google buys dodgeball

: Despite Google’s global reach, Dodgeball remained restricted to only 22 U.S. cities for years. Founded in 2000, Dodgeball was ahead of its time