Wazap! is a vertical

search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

database and

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

site to distribute gaming news, rankings, cheats, downloads and reviews owned and operated by Eastbeam Co. Ltd. of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As a vertical

, it indexes gaming sites and categorizes the information as news, reviews, cheats, downloads, previews and articles. The name Wazap! originates from the fusion of the Japanese word 'waza (技)' meaning 'technique' and 'up', symbolizing improvement.

History

Wazap first launched in Japan in 2001 as a

community website A virtual community is a social network of individuals who connect through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. Some of the most pervasive virtual commu ...

for gamers. Initially a mix of gaming news and

user generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's users to create content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testimonials, and software (e.g. video ...

, Wazap was then redeveloped as a gaming search and information distribution site. Following initial success in Japan, Wazap was launched in other markets, beginning with Germany in 2004 under the auspices of Wazap AG. In November 2006, Wazap launched Wazap (CN) in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The US version of Wazap launched in June 2007.Techcrunch: Wazap Coming To America
/ref> By 2008, however, Wazap had failed to gain traction outside of Japan, and its

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Chinese and American operations were closed down. As of October 2018, it continues to operate solely in Japan.

Executives

*Andreas Rührig: CEO & Co-founder *Timo Meyer: COO & Co-founder *Philip Gienandt: CFO *Alexander Piutti: CCO, & General Manager, Europe *Jeff Tang: General Manager, China * Thom Kozik: General Manager, U.S.

Awards

In 2007, Wazap AG (Germany) earned a 2007 Red Herring Award – European Division. The Red Herring award is noted as a valuable tool in measuring companies that will serve as leaders of innovation in the field of technology.

References

{{reflist
Wazap JP
Online game databases Internet search engines Internet properties established in 2004