Report: Friendster to be Sold for $100 Million
It’s been widely reported in the past few days on major news networks and online marketing blogs that Friendster, the popular social networking site (at least in Asia) will be sold to the Chinese internet investment firm, Tencent Holdings. Tencent, a publicly owned company whose other investments include QQ.com (a large Chineese web portal), is estimated to close the deal by the end of December.
So, why Friendster? Since it’s launch in 2003, they have build up a membership base of 115 million registered users, seen incredible growth in Asian countries….but the United States sit at 4th place in terms of countries sending the most traffic. Apparently, this isn’t a concern to the higher ups as the company, founded by Californian programmer Johanthan Abrams, is now being led by Richard Kimber…former director of Google’s South Asian affairs.
In 2003, Google made a stab at Friendster with a $30 million buyout offer.
Even though the site has been all but shunned in the United States (90% of Friendster’s traffic is from Asia), it is still one of the world’s most visited web sites, and is on the rise in Asian Markets. With continuing rumors about this deal, and looking at the site’s traffic stats, it’s not surprising the network will be headquartered out of Asia. Not everyone reading this article has heard of Friendster…or used it, for that matter. But, just five years ago it was one of the hottest start ups and social networking sites on the internet….
What happened?…and, I don’t mean in a negative way.
It sounds funny saying this, considering 100 million big ones is no laughing matter, but what caused them to sail Eastward ?
Two Words: MySpace, Facebook. Yes, Friendster was around way before these Friend Giants came on board, however, some sites tend to attract a more International user base. For example, let’s look at Orkut, Google’s social networking platform. According to Alexa, in terms of countries sending the most traffic, the top referrers are: Paraguay, Estonia, India, Brazil, Qatar, Pakistan…you get the point.
Just because Friendster is one of the “pioneers” of the social networking industry, does not mean they will be the biggest. Is Lycos and Alta Vista still the largest search engines? Are you using IE, Mozilla, or Netscape? Are you using MySpace or Facebook? Even though MySpace is still used by millions, you have to agree Facebook is now the mainstream social networking destination.
Even with it’s decline in the United States, Friendster is still a quality hang out spot among Asian teens. Users have the option of choosing from over 40 different entities..artists, models, musicians, businesses and organizations. Other features include, Friendster Mobile, and text Alerts…along with a developer program allowing widgets and customizable content since 2006. Approximately over 39% of profiles utilize these features.
In the current online age, no site has guaranteed success and loyalty. Users are still looking for the best site to simplify their lives and…who knows, 1 year from now Twitter will again be just the sound you hear outside. As for right now, I’m gonna go change by Facebook status.
