Wikitravel Sells Out

Well, I was already wondering what big news might have prompted Evan to invite me (amongst many others) to an IRC chat. Now we officially know: Wikitravel sold out. They are now owned by Internet Brands, and will merge their content with world66. The downside? They plan to add advertisements to Wikitravel content.

There’s hardly any details on the deal beyond that; Evan and his wife are now employees of the new owner. Evan talks a lot about how the community will stay in control, but considering how much say the community got in this decision I must wonder how much of that is simply empty talk. There’s a discussion on the talk page for the news, so chime in there if you have an opinion.