Walla! portal's main page screenshot as on October 2016
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Type of business | Public |
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Type of site
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web portal |
Available in | Hebrew |
Traded as | : WALA |
Founded | 1995 |
Headquarters | 166 IBN Gvirol St., Tel Aviv, Israel |
Owner | Bezeq (100%) |
Key people | Avraham Gabai(Chairman) Gadi Hadar (Founder) Erez Pilosof (Founder) Gadi Hadar (Founder) Ilan Yeshua(CEO) |
Net income | ₪132 Million (FY 2009) |
Website | www |
Alexa rank | 9 Israel (October 2016[update]) |
Registration | optional |
Users | 2.5 Million active users |
Current status | active |
Walla! Communications Ltd. (Hebrew: וואלה! תקשורת בע"מ) is an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv and is fully owned by Bezeq. Walla!'s web portal provides news, search and e-mail, among other things. It is also one of the first Israeli internet portals, and is considered as one of the most popular web sites in the country. As of October 2016[update], Alexa rankings put it in the top 9 sites by traffic originating in Israel.
The portal was founded by Erez Pilosof and Gadi Hadar in 1995 as Israel's first online website directory, and soon afterwards acquired by "Mashov Computers Marketing", a member of The Mashov Group headed by Yaki Dunietz and David Assia. In 1998, the company, traded on the , changed its name to "Walla! Communications Ltd". In the same year, the company was acquired by Formula Systems, headed by Dan Goldstein, and in 2001 it merged with IOL, a similar site run by the Haaretz Group.
Walla! provides news from Israel and around the world, 24 hours a day. Most news stories that appear in Walla! came from the Haaretz Group, news agencies and other content providers. However, during the year 2006, Walla! started building an independent news and editorial staff, which produces original news stories and special features. In addition, Walla! produces original content in various fields such as sports, cinema, music, fashion and food. The website offers many programs and services, a search engine, E-mail, online shops, chats, and video on demand.