russianwifes.by.ru was the website of the "Nizhny Novgorod Marriage Agency," operating in the free BY.RU zone since 2002[1]; the nn.ru directory listed the project under the dating and marriage services category[1]. The last recorded snapshot of the domain is dated November 2005[2].

What the site offered

The home page presented itself as the "official website of the 'Nizhny Novgorod Marriage Agency,'" made by studio W-Graphics[1]. In 2002 the site announced a new service: as the home page put it, "WE ARE INTRODUCING A NEW SERVICE! Now, if you want to meet a man from Europe or America with us, there is no need at all to flip through thick catalogs, fill out questionnaires, and carry on lengthy correspondence over the internet! Now foreigners will come to our city themselves, and we simply arrange the meeting for you"[1]. The description in the nn.ru directory rounded out the picture: the site presented itself as the "official representation of the largest European marriage agency," offering a "theory of dating," a "photo gallery of charming girls and women of mature beauty," and "international dating"[1]. Details of the services, including the specific terms of meetings with foreigners, were placed behind a "HERE" link, the text of which is not preserved in the surviving snapshot[1].

Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet

According to Counter.nn.ru, as recorded in the directory listing, the site carries a rating value of 29.0[1]; no votes for it are recorded in the surviving counter samples. The material contains no information about the site's participation in the Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day. The site itself was hosted in the nationwide free zone by.ru rather than in the Nizhny Novgorod domains nn.ru/nnov.ru/r52.ru — the project's Nizhny Novgorod affiliation is evident only from its name and its inclusion in the local nn.ru directory[1].

How it closed

By May 2005, the web archive records a service placeholder page from BY.RU hosting in place of the home page: "The website 'russianwifes.by.ru' has no main page, which usually means the project is under development or is currently being updated"[2]. The placeholder page invited the owner to upload their own index.html file, or offered the visitor the general BY.RU service directory — from hosting and web design to tourism and dating — unrelated to the site's original content[2]. The material contains no data on the domain being transferred to another address; the last snapshot in the web archive is dated November 2005.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Home page, 2002 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — BY.RU placeholder page, 2005 (archive)