Comments on: Deja News: Google’s first acquisition https://dfarq.homeip.net/deja-news-googles-first-acquisition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deja-news-googles-first-acquisition David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:32:02 +0000 hourly 1 By: Shirley Marquez https://dfarq.homeip.net/deja-news-googles-first-acquisition/#comment-57504 Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:32:02 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=36828#comment-57504 Selling Usenet access has an inherent problem: it is, by nature, a commodity product. Everybody was selling the same core service; they were only differentiated by how many groups they carried, how long they retained posts, and eventually by their web interfaces. (Few people are still using dedicated Usenet news reader software.)

At least one company that is dedicated to Usenet access, Giganews (which also owns Supernews since 2008; they remain separate sites but use the same Usenet database), is still around. They offer more than 20 years of retention of text-only groups and at least five years of binary groups. Some ISPs still offer Usenet access as part of their internet service, but it’s usually outsourced to Giganews. You can also buy access a a standalone product.

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