Comments on: What happened to tastespotting?

Question: What happened to tastespotting?

shesbookish — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:41:29 -0800

What happened to Tastespotting?

I checked a few times today and it wasn't updated, then this evening there was a note left stating that due to "legal complications" NOTCOT would no longer be operating tastespotting.com. Does anyone know what these legal complications are? Were these issues caused by posting pictures without permission or were they something unrelated to the content of the website.

I loved tastespotting and used it all the time to get recipe ideas. Is there hope of a similar website springing up in the next few days, or will any website of this type face legal issues?

By: lottie

lottie — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:20:08 -0800

Oh man - sorry I can't answer your question, but I am seriously bummed about Tastespotting vanishing. I used it as a resource almost daily.

By: Bakuun

Bakuun — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:35:03 -0800

Hm, same here - the site layout was just perfect. My guess would be they ran into legal issues with image rights. I'll be on the lookout for further news.

By: phoeniciansailor

phoeniciansailor — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:50:35 -0800

oh man! :( tastespotting was the site that i'd hit right after askmefi, and right before i'd go to the fridge and pig out on ice cream. what a disappointment. hope this gets cleared up fast.

By: mia_farrow

mia_farrow — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:26:59 -0800

How disappointing! I was also a frequent visitor, and that note sounds pretty final. If it helps, I bookmarked a few of the food blogs found on Tastespotting. Perhaps one of the bloggers knows what happened.

Smitten Kitchen
Delicious Days
28 Cooks
Albion Cooks
Boxcar Kitchen
Cream Puffs in Venice
The Delicious Life
Nook & Pantry
My Feasts
Dine & Dish
Bake or Break

And there's more where these came from.

By: ethel

ethel — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:32:19 -0800

Oh man, so super sad. I would go here for inspiration for sure! Might be good to keep an eye here, a thread on the mystery at Serious Eats..

By: Bibliogeek

Bibliogeek — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:53:18 -0800

DAMN.

I can't find anything either...although I hadn't heard about this before.

My bet is on copyright issues.

By: jmnugent

jmnugent — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:41:37 -0800

You would think... as a food blogger... you would WANT a meta-list type site like Tastespotting to be "spotlighting" your fab' creations. Tastespotting was one of my (almost) daily reads, and definitely the very first place I would turn to whenever I didnt know what to make. ("Damn, I only have noodles, lets search Tastespotting for "noodles")...

Bummer :(

By: GardenGal

GardenGal — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:30:59 -0800

Oh crap! That sucks!

I thought people posted their own photos on Tastespotting, was that not right?

I could see copyright issues if Tastespotting were rolling around teh interwebs linking to other blogs without asking... but why on earth would anyone have an issue with that?

By: mikeh

mikeh — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:34:28 -0800

I would almost bet that the problem Bibliogeek linked to is to blame.

By: idest

idest — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:41:26 -0800

The troll Bibliogeek's link describes has been around a lot longer than tastespotting and is well-known in the food blog world. No doubt tastespotting made his obsession easier by providing so many links. It's really sad to think he may have had a hand in causing NOTCOT to take the site down.

By: _dario

_dario — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:58:09 -0800

bummer :(

By: chipbrantley

chipbrantley — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:53:13 -0800

I'm not sure why anyone would have an issue with TasteSpotting, but there were some rumblings from various food bloggers here and there. I didn't know that the rumblings had become "legal complications," though. I'm trying to get in touch with the TS people to see what happened.

By: geeky

geeky — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:57:13 -0800

I have no idea what happened, but I agree with everyone else that I'm seriously bummed about it :(

By: melissam

melissam — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:47:54 -0800

How am I supposed to procrastinate now? I wish I had some pirate internet server on some tax shelter island so I could recreate it.

By: kitkatcathy

kitkatcathy — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:18:07 -0800

A Tastespotting clone has popped up - it's still in its early stages but looks promising: Food Gawker.

By: geeky

geeky — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:34:35 -0800

Re: Food Gawker - Oh, YAY!

By: shesbookish

shesbookish — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:32:01 -0800

For those following this thread, just wanted to update that the tastespotting site has received some updates in the past few days. Apparently the legal issues don't involve copyright issues or the aforementioned stalker. From the tone of the notes, it seems like they're working on trying to bring tastespotting back. Yay!

The people behind tastespotting have started a new website with a similar theme: Liqurious.

By: shesbookish

shesbookish — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:52:48 -0800

And tastespotting is back! Woohoo!

By: zsazsa

zsazsa — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:13:51 -0800

Interview with the Tastespotting founder. It includes why it was down for a while.