Tr.im calls in Web 2.0 doctors, gets stomach pumped

Tr.im, the URL shortening service, has granted itself a stay of execution while it tries to convince someone to buy the unprofitable firm.

On Sunday the company, which is owned by Nambu Networks, declared it was shutting down its operations after failing to make money from the site, which is used by Twittertards who want to dribble as much juice as possible out of 140 characters.

What a difference a few days - and a lot of publicity - makes. Tr.im has resurrected its website, even though it still hasn’t managed to actually secure a buyer for its Web 2.0 property.

“We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the popular response, and the countless public and private appeals I have received to keep tr.im alive,” said Nambu Networks CEO Eric Woodward.

“We have answered those pleas. Nambu will keep tr.im operating going forward, indefinitely, while we continue to consider our options in regards to tr.im’s future.”

He once again blamed Twitter for “stacking” the tiny URL biz “overwhelmingly in bit.ly’s favour”.

In the meantime, Tr.im will continue to hold out the begging bowl in the hope of convincing an individual or company, presumably with more money than sense, to buy the site even though “not-in-it-for-the-money” Twitter doesn’t officially endorse it.

A cynic might rightly conclude that the suicidal hoopla created by Tr.im was simply one big cry for help. We’ll leave you to work that one out. For his part, Woodward insisted: “This was not a public-relations stunt. At all.” ®