When we launched Purple Roofs in 1998 , we had no idea how popular it would become. At its height, it was one of the top queer travel directories, with over 5000 LGBTQ+ accommodations, travel agents and tour operators listed in more than fifty countries worldwide.
We loved our time working with these clients and helping those in our communities find friendly places to stay that understood the concerns of LGBTQ+ travelers. Purple Roofs was a dream born of an idea that Marco had, and for many years it was a joy for us to work on.
Unfortunately, it became increasingly difficult to bring traffic to our clients, as internet corporations changed the way they indexed websites and displayed our site information on their sites without compensation or sending site traffic our way. Much of the old internet we loved is gone now, consumed by forces beyond our control. We hope that one day the internet will once again be for everyone, like it once was, not just for a few wealthy corporations.
Unfortunately, it became increasingly difficult to bring traffic to our clients, as internet corporations changed the way they indexed websites and displayed our site information on their search results without compensation and no longer directing traffic to purpleroofs.com . Much of the old internet we loved is gone now, consumed by forces beyond our control. We hope that one day the internet will once again be for everyone, like it once was, not just for a few wealthy corporations.
And so we have made the difficult decision to shut down Purple Roofs. We thank all of our clients and visitors over the years, for making our jobs such a pleasure.
—Scott & Mark, GRN
RIP 9/28/26