[mrtksn]

Those who relied on making profits were decimated as VC funded user experience was much superior. It was an era of land-grab.

[dmitriid]

Those who relied on anything were decimated in the bubble of 2001.

Also, you're pretending that all of those sites were making a profit, or operated under the assumption of making a profit. There was a lot of money thrown at any and all internet companies by the end of 1990s. It's just that the market was much smaller.