Xmarks Sync
{{Short description|Browser bookmark synchronizer}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Xmarks
| developer = Marvasol, Inc.
(LogMeIn)
| released = {{Start date and age|2006}}
| platform = Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari
| language =
| genre = Browser synchronizer and browser extension
| license = Freeware
}}
Xmarks, formerly Foxmarks, is a defunct bookmark synchronization add-on for web browsers. The add-on was developed by San Francisco-based company Foxmarks (later renamed Xmarks) which was founded in 2006 by Mitch Kapor{{cite web |url=http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2006/01/mitch-kapor-on-foxmarks/ |title=Mitch Kapor on Foxmarks |publisher=Mozillalinks.org |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724144951/http://mozillalinks.org/2006/01/mitch-kapor-on-foxmarks/ |archive-date=2011-07-24 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.foxmarks.com/aboutus|title=About Us|date=2006|website=Foxmarks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102224627/http://www.foxmarks.com:80/aboutus|archive-date=January 2, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=March 31, 2018}} and was acquired by LastPass in December 2010.{{cite web|url=http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/12/lastpass-acquires-xmarks_3493.html|title=LastPass Acquires Xmarks!|date=1 December 2010|website=blogs.Xmarks.com|publisher=Xmarks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401003654/http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/12/lastpass-acquires-xmarks_3493.html|archive-date=1 April 2018|url-status=dead}}
LastPass announced on March 30, 2018, that the Xmarks service would be shut down on May 1, 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ghacks.net/2018/03/31/logmein-to-shut-down-xmarks-on-may-1-2018/|title=LogMeIn to shut down Xmarks on May 1, 2018|last=Brinkmann|first=Martin|date=31 March 2018|work=gHacks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401124824/https://www.ghacks.net/2018/03/31/logmein-to-shut-down-xmarks-on-may-1-2018/|archive-date=April 1, 2018|url-status=live}}
Overview
The Xmarks bookmark synchronizer was an extension for Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple Safari (on OS X 10.5 and 10.6){{cite web |url=http://download.xmarks.com/download/all/ |title=Xmarks download page for all supported browsers |publisher=Download.xmarks.com |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-date=2012-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919182858/http://download.xmarks.com/download/all |url-status=dead }} that synchronized bookmarks between computers. It could also synchronize passwords, open tabs, and browsing history (Firefox only).{{cite web|url=http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/08/xmarks-for-firefox-now-with-history_3925.html|title=Xmarks for Firefox, now with History Sync|publisher=Blog.xmarks.com|access-date=2010-10-07|archive-date=2012-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020182412/http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/08/xmarks-for-firefox-now-with-history_3925.html|url-status=dead}} Opera support has not been directly implemented as of 2015 {{cite web |url=https://forums.lastpass.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=161985&p=558485&hilit=opera+xmarks#p558485 |title=Re: Opera Xmarks Extension |publisher=forums.lastpass.com |date=2015-05-07 |access-date=2015-11-12}} but the Chrome extension is available in Opera via a workaround.{{cite web |url=https://forums.lastpass.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=173625&p=586885#p586885 |title=Re: Will Opera be supported soon? |publisher=forums.lastpass.com |date=2015-07-24 |access-date=2015-11-12}} As of April 2009 it was one of the most popular Firefox add-ons{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}, attaining over 150,000 downloads per week and almost 15 million total downloads.{{Citation needed|reason=The given citation does not give the mentioned information.|date=September 2012}}{{Cite web |url=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/xmarks-sync/ |title=Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks) stats on addons.mozilla.org |access-date=2011-03-20 |archive-date=2011-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110328003402/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/xmarks-sync/ |url-status=dead }}
History
In March 2009, Foxmarks was relaunched under a new name and service called Xmarks. Xmarks included many new features like suggested tagging bookmarks.{{cite web |url=http://blog.xmarks.com/2009/03/foxmarks-is-becoming-xmarks_460.html |title=Foxmarks is becoming Xmarks |publisher=Blog.xmarks.com |date=2009-03-02 |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-date=2012-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403135722/http://blog.xmarks.com/2009/03/foxmarks-is-becoming-xmarks_460.html |url-status=dead }}
On September 27, 2010 it was announced that due to the company's current financial projections resulting from its purely voluntary-donations funding-basis, in January 2011, Xmarks would be entirely discontinuing its service.{{cite web |url=http://blog.xmarks.com/?p=1886 |title=End of the Road for Xmarks |publisher=Blog.xmarks.com |date=2010-09-27 |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-date=2010-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008090315/http://blog.xmarks.com/?p=1886 |url-status=dead }} On September 30, Xmarks CEO, James Joaquin, noted that he had been "pleasantly surprised by the volume of interest" that has been expressed since his initial "closing-announcement". This interest has been shown by both potential buyers of the company, and by those who have thus far pledged to subscribe to the service at the site's "pledge page". At their donations page, Xmarks attempted to acquire pledges from 100,000 of their users to pay $10–20 per year for a proposed "premium Xmarks service" which launched on December 9, 2010.{{cite web |last=Lowensohn |first=Josh |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20018209-248.html |title=Xmarks may live on, in paid form |publisher=News.cnet.com |date=2010-09-30 |access-date=2010-10-07}}{{cite web |url=http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/09/xmarks-is-dead-long-live-xmarks_2920.html |title=Xmarks is Dead. Long Live Xmarks? |publisher=Blog.xmarks.com |date=2010-09-30 |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-date=2018-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420115331/http://blog.xmarks.com/2010/09/xmarks-is-dead-long-live-xmarks_2920.html |url-status=dead }} To the date October 7, 2010, Xmarks investors had invested $9 million into the Xmarks project, but with a return on this investment not yet clearly in sight, unless sufficient pledges are received by October 15, 2010, apparently these initial investment funds are reaching an end-point.
On December 2, 2010, the password-management service LastPass acquired Xmarks. Since this acquisition the program has been minimally updated, primarily fixing bugs, and has not had a single new feature added. On October 9, 2015, LastPass was acquired by LogMeIn, Inc. for $125 million.{{cite web|title=LogMeIn buys LastPass for $125 million|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/9/9486343/logmein-buys-lastpass-for-125-million|website=The Verge|date=9 October 2015 |access-date=16 October 2015}} After the acquisition, LastPass stated that they plan to continue to support Xmarks.{{cite web|title=LogMeIn's Acquisition of LastPass FAQs|url=https://lastpass.com/support.php?cmd=showfaq&id=9752|website=LastPass Help Center|access-date=18 January 2016}}
On March 30, 2018, in an email to users, LastPass announced that the Xmarks service would be shut down on May 1, 2018.
= Xmarks domain blockage in India =
Starting in May 2012, the xmarks.com domain was blocked by major ISPs in India by court order,{{clarify|date=October 2015|Well, WHY? Don't make readers to have to go somewhere else to find out basic information that should be here.}} resulting in various websites appearing with only a simple message "Access to this site has been blocked as per Court Orders."{{Cite news
| first = Nikhil
| last = Pahwa
| title = DailyMotion Blocked In India On RCOM; Airtel & RCOM Block Bookmarking Site Xmarks
| quote = And it gets bizarre...
| publisher = MediaNama
| date = 2012-05-11
| url = http://www.medianama.com/2012/05/223-dailymotion-blocked-in-india-on-rcom-airtel-rcom-block-bookmarking-site-xmarks/
| access-date = 2012-09-02
| title = Indian ISPs block Vimeo, Pirate Bay and other torrent sites
| publisher = Firstpost.com
| date = 2012-05-17
| url = http://www.firstpost.com/tech/indian-isps-block-vimeo-pirate-bay-and-other-torrent-sites-312802.html
| access-date = 2012-09-04
| first = Anupam
| last = Saxena
| title = Updated: Airtel Blocks Vimeo, DailyMotion & All Major Torrent Sites In India Following John Doe Order
| publisher = MediaNama
| date = 2012-05-17
| url = http://www.medianama.com/2012/05/223-airtel-blocks-vimeo-dailymotion-all-major-torrent-sites-in-india/
| access-date = 2012-09-04
|first = Mittal
|last = Sushubh
|title = Now airtel broadband is blocking a bunch of file sharing and regular websites
|quote = (see court order pdf on this page)
|publisher = techwhack
|date = 2012-05-17
|url = http://techwhack.com/airtel-broadband-blocking-bunch-file-sharing-regular-websites-3136/
|access-date = 2012-09-02
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120814233140/http://techwhack.com/airtel-broadband-blocking-bunch-file-sharing-regular-websites-3136/
|archive-date = 2012-08-14
| first = Lucian
| last = Parfeni
| title = More Indian ISPs Block Torrent Sites, Dailymotion, Even Xmarks
| publisher = Softpedia
| date = 2012-05-17
| url = http://news.softpedia.com/news/More-India-ISPs-Block-Torrent-Sites-Dailymotion-Even-Xmarks-270159.shtml
| access-date = 2012-09-02
}}
Privacy
Xmarks provided an option to encrypt bookmarks while they are in transit between the browser and the Xmarks server. Individual users' bookmarks are kept private from other users. However, there are clearly issues of privacy and trust in sending bookmarks to a third party. Xmarks did provide an option for the user to avoid the Xmarks server, by using their own WebDAV or FTP server to store their bookmarks, but this option was only available with Firefox.{{Cite web | title = BYOS « Xmarks User Manual | url = https://helpdesk.xmarks.com/bookmark-manager-basics/byos/ | year = 2013 | access-date = 8 October 2013 | archive-date = 12 July 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170712124658/https://helpdesk.xmarks.com/bookmark-manager-basics/byos/ | url-status = dead }}
Bookmarks were analysed to provide public services such as "Suggested Tags" and "Smarter Search" (Xmarks enhancements to Google web search). The privacy policy stated that the results of this analysis are published without providing any information about individual users.{{Cite web | title = Xmarks - Privacy Policy | url = https://www.xmarks.com/about/privacy | publisher = LastPass | date = 2009-09-24 | access-date = 8 October 2013 | archive-date = 2013-11-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109050534/http://www.xmarks.com/about/privacy | url-status = dead }}
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Companies based in San Francisco
Category:Software companies established in 2006
Category:Software companies disestablished in 2018
Category:2010 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Nonfree Firefox legacy extensions
Category:Defunct software companies of the United States
Category:Defunct online companies of the United States