It’s something that we’ve predicted before but it’s still causing some consternation especially among die hard Multiply users. Multiply announced that it will close down its blog service on 1 December 20120. The blogging service that has been a staple of Multiply since its inception in 2003 is giving way to the company’s Marketplace business that has turned Indonesia and The Philippines into the focus of Multiply’s global operations. Faithful bloggers will have to export their valuable posts and photos to other blog services.

We spoke to then-CEO Peter Pezaris in June last year regarding the company’s shift in focus. Pezaris who is a co-funder of Multiply ensured that the blog platform will be maintained as it is a legacy of Multiply. One way to guarantee that promise was the invitation to Indonesia’s celebrity bloggers and personalities to blog on Multiply when the company opened its Indonesian office. As it turns out, different CEOs have different objectives. Current CEO Stefan Magdalinski took a different view in focusing on the marketplace and Multiply’s bloggers have to vacate the platform.

Frankly, as a blogging platform Multiply isn’t too flash. The rigid and outdated interface puts it behind other platforms such as WordPress and Tumblr. Despite this fact, many Indonesian bloggers are attached to this platform because they can store photos as they do now in social networks, which eventually led to the creation of online stores.

When Multiply discovered its new gem, which is the use of the service as a store front in several Southeast Asian countries, the folks at Multiply immediately jumped at the opportunity and made it the company’s new direction. Unlike the mature e-commerce market in the United States, the markets in Indonesia and The Philippines are still at an early stage which makes it a great opportunity for Multiply to step in.

At this moment the shut down announcement hasn’t yet been spread widely. There’s no information via email, no blog post on Multiply’s official blog, or even the Indonesian blog. The only notification on this appears when you log in to your Multiply account. Somehow it failed to appear on my blog.

One of the things that need attention is ensuring the steps in transferring posts and photos that have been stored be made easy and painless. There’s less than four months for Multiply’s bloggers to think about doing this.

We’ve contacted Multiply for further information.

Update: Here is Multiply’s official word on the closure:

Hello. Stefan here, writing you from Multiply HQ in Jakarta, Indonesia.

As most of you are probably aware, Multiply’s mission has evolved over the past year and a half to become the biggest and most beloved ecommerce marketplace in two very exciting markets, Indonesia and the Philippines. As our focus has shifted, we have reviewed all of our operations, and made some decisions that will affect everyone here.

From December 1st, we will unfortunately no longer be able to support Multiply in its current form – notably we will be removing the social networking and content sharing part of Multiply (photos, videos, blogs, social messaging, etc.). We have decided to discontinue providing and hosting these services, as we have concluded that other Internet sites who are committed to social networking services will do a better job serving you than we can.

For our existing users of social networking features, we will be providing easy ways for you to either download your stuff (photos, blogs, content, etc), or migrate it to other online services. We’ll announce the precise details shortly. It will be your choice whether to download, migrate or just let your content lapse (and get deleted).
For our existing ecommerce users (both buyers and sellers) in Indonesia and the Philippines, there will be no action required.

Regarding any existing Multiply Premium subscriptions we will refund any unused balance, and apologize for any inconvenience this will cause. Please contact customer service to request a refund. Note that this is for Multiply Premium, not the ecommerce related Multiply Trust product.

I am aware of how disruptive this news may be, and understand the disappointment that it may cause. Ultimately this was a business decision, critical to our to success moving forward. Instead, we are excited to pursue our own mission to give the 350 million consumers in Indonesia and the Philippines a great way to buy and sell items online. Our singular focus now is for Multiply to retain its status as a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia in the years ahead.

I suspect that many of you will not like this news, and am sorry to have to deliver it now. I hope that you will be able to understand the reasons for our decision and thank you for being a part of the Multiply community over the past eight years.

Stef