The dot-com bubble was the technology-stock bubble whose collapse drove the early-2000s market crash.
During the late 1990s, investors poured money into internet businesses, many of which had little revenue, no profits, or untested business models. Companies often added “.com” to their names and attracted funding through public offerings. Optimism about the commercial potential of the internet pushed technology valuations to extreme levels.
The Nasdaq Composite reached its peak on March 10, 2000. After that high, investors became less willing to pay for projected growth, interest rates rose, and many companies failed to meet expectations. The Nasdaq fell about 78 percent from its peak to its October 2002 low, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value.
The bubble did not mean that the internet itself was a failed technology. Companies such as Amazon and eBay survived and later grew substantially. The term describes an investment-price bubble and its collapse, not the invention or spread of the internet.