Tencent’s virtual goods revenues keep growing during recession
Asian web companies have been making millions from virtual goods for years — and that story doesn’t seem to be changing despite the current worldwide recession. Tencent , a publicly-traded Chinese web conglomerate comprised of an instant message client, a social network, and various other services, says it made $342.3 million in virtual goods in the first quarter of this year.
The numbers seem to indicate the resiliency of virtual goods — such as virtual clothing… Continue Reading
Facebook platform developers could see $500M in revenue this year
A growing number of game makers on Facebook are making money from virtual goods — from poker chips to virtual clothes that users can buy or earn while playing gaming applications with their friends on Facebook. The combined ecosystem of these game developers and other companies supplying services to them could generate half a billion dollars in revenue in 2009.
That’s significant, considering third-party applications on Facebook have been viewed as gimmicks making no significant revenue…. Continue Reading
Priority for MySpace: Do something about those virtual currency plans
Last summer, MySpace heard about Facebook’s still-unclear plans for a virtual currency and began hatching its own. While Facebook has been running possibly related experiments like credits, it’s been relatively quiet on its plans. MySpace, however, has been trying to move forward, or so a composite sketch of its efforts shows, based on information I’ve gathered from several sources. As of March, it was still in talks with PayPal to have the eBay subsidiary try… Continue Reading
Can Owen Van Natta make MySpace number one again?
After simmering rumors about the possible departure of MySpace chief executive Chris DeWolfe, the lid was blown off yesterday when a TechCrunch report suggested that the company was actively searching for a new CEO. Although a leadership change hadn’t been imminent, the report spurred DeWolfe to ask to his new boss, News Corp. digital media head Jonathan Miller, about his future — and yeah, now some sort of DeWolfe departure is happening, according to two… Continue Reading
Roundup: Fox News launches uReport, AT&T doubles 3G capacity, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Fox News gets citizen journalism arm on MySpace — Contributors to uReport can only upload and tag photos and videos, presenting fewer possibilities than CNN’s similarly named iReport.
AT&T doubling 3G capacity — The company, whose 3G network is the source of frequent complaints from iPhone owners, says it will increase downlink capacity from 3.6 to 7.2 megabits per second through base station software upgrades.
Startup icons create seed-stage fund in Europe –Â European Founders Capital, a… Continue Reading
Playdom: Another social gaming company playing it smart with virtual goods
Virtual goods may be making billions of dollars for some web companies in Asia, but the business model — which can be as simple as letting users buy virtual jackets for their avatars using real money — hasn’t been a hit here until recently. For what has likely been more than a year now, third parties on social networking platforms offered by Facebook, MySpace and other sites have been experimenting with various forms of virtual… Continue Reading
Public market buys ChangYou’s virtual goods model, stock up after IPO
In a public market vote of confidence on the business of virtual goods, Chinese game-maker ChangYou (CYOU) has gone public on NASDAQ today and its stock is currently up around 25 percent on heavy trading. Why? The company is seeing $202 million in annual revenue, more than half of which is profit, according to The Economist. Initial shares were priced between $14 and $16 but now it’s leveling out around $20.
ChangYou makes money from selling… Continue Reading
MySpace and Citysearch partner for MySpace Local
MySpace and Citysearch have partnered for the launch of a local business directory called MySpace Local. The new site lets MySpace users review, search, and share content about their favorite businesses, while leveraging Citysearch’s stockpile of local business directory info. Though MySpace Local is currently in private beta, users can expect an official launch in the coming weeks.
After getting a look behind the curtain, I can say that MySpace Local is fairly straightforward. Essentially, MySpace… Continue Reading
Roundup: Hammerhead’s tale, web ad stats and more
The tale of Hammerhead Systems — A Cisco competitor, it got as far as inking deals with major telecommunications companies during its seven-year run, but now it’s closing up shop. It had received more than $110 million in funding and promised superior routing technology. The San Jose Mercury News has a closer look at what went right and wrong.
MySpace to offer Windows Mobile application — And it’s also going to support Microsoft’s Silverlight developer framework on its… Continue Reading
The world’s most lucrative social network? China’s Tencent beats $1 billion revenue mark
A billion dollars in revenue in a single year? Not even MySpace, currently the most profitable social network outside China, has managed to accomplish that. But publicly traded Tencent, a leading Chinese web portal, instant message client, social network, game developer and more has done it, and largely through the use of virtual goods and other “Internet valued-added services,” like avatars, dating services, online memberships, music and community sites.
Overall, the so-called IVAS revenue category contributed… Continue Reading
MySpace shares more data with the web, could get more traffic in return
MySpace is making it easier for users and developers to access data on its site from around the web, with the release of several new features for its MySpaceID distributed identity service. The service’s new features could make the entertainment-focused social network more relevant to more people, at a time when the company’s traffic is stagnating and management is turning over.
Starting today, MySpace users can log into partner sites using their MySpace identities, see updates… Continue Reading
Roundup: PG&E installs smart meters, Stewart cows Cramer, the market seesaws and more
MySpace Events get an upgrade — The network’s new event invite system takes more advantage of users’ social circles. TechCrunch has more.
PG&E smart meters get the green light — The utility will spend $467 million in taxpayer money to install the meters in California homes. The San Jose Mercury News has the story.
Student VC firms feel the burn — The downturn has dried up cash for small university-based venture firms run by students, just like their professional counterparts,… Continue Reading
Your mom is leaving MySpace for Facebook (but you aren’t)
MySpace has been maligned for what appears to be stagnant if not declining traffic in its core U.S. userbase. But the story is more nuanced, and not so dire. Sure, MySpace’s overall traffic has taken a big hit over the last year — a 28 percent drop from 72.92 percent of the U.S. social networking market a year ago to 52.21 percent this past February, according to new numbers from web measurement firm Hitwise. And… Continue Reading
Roundup: VC departure complications, Facebook ToS issues not stopping growth, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Pierre Lamond’s departure from Sequoia: It’s complicated — The famed venture capitalist left top investing firm Sequoia Capital earlier this week to join fellow investor Vinod Khosla — but his defection doesn’t appear to have been as amicable as it first appeared, and the relationship between Lamond and Khosla is still being sifted out, according to peHUB.
A bad new record — It’s official, the market has fallen further and faster than it did in… Continue Reading
MySpaceID: More social content for the web and a way forward for MySpace
MySpace is trying to make it easier for other sites to access its user data — and eventually features like streaming music playlists. The service, called MySpaceID, is partway through being rolled out, and we got a sneak peak at some new features yesterday at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs. MySpaceID product lead Max Engel showed off these slides, above and below, illustrating a simple process for signing into another site using your MySpace… Continue Reading
DEMO: Watch and comment on companies with Facebook and Twitter
Trying to keep track of what’s happening at the DEMO startup conference beginning today? Tune in, with the help of Facebook Connect or Twitter — or both. Just go to the DEMO web site, at Demo.com and click on the large button front and center that says “Watch Demo09 Live.” You’ll be taken to a video feed that shows you live footage from the show, as well as Facebook status updates and Twitter messages from… Continue Reading
The ugly truth about your favorite social networks
When it comes to social web sites and services, sometimes I think we like to talk about them more than actually use them. A recent post we did about Twitter getting half the press coverage of Facebook despite a fraction of the traffic, seems a bit indicative of this. So who is actually using these networks?
The site Brainz did some excellent overview charts of the various popular networks this week. Alright, so they aren’t actually… Continue Reading
Some reasons for DeWolfe and Anderson to stay at MySpace
There’s a one-source rumor going around that MySpace co-founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe may leave the social network and parent company News Corp. when their contracts expire next October. The rumor could be true, it could be just a negotiating tactic to help them bargain for more than the $15 million they’re each reportedly getting, or it could be entirely false.
Looking at MySpace’s present position, I’d be surprised if they left anytime soon. For… Continue Reading
Chinese social network Qzone: The worldwide market leader?
Neither Facebook nor MySpace nor other international social networks can claim to be the single largest one in the world, if a recent press release by leading Chinese social network Qzone is to be believed. The site, part of the larger Tencent internet portal, claims to have had more than 200 million monthly active users in January, according to China Web2.0 Review (a translated version of the release is also available at the Web2Asia blog)…. Continue Reading
MySpace’s John Faith on mobile revenue and mobile data opportunities
MySpace has seen some impressive traffic growth for its mobile web site and its mobile applications over the last year. And the social network is capitalizing on it by developing new revenue streams and new ways to get its users’ data on more devices.
This is the second part of my interview with MySpace vice president and general manager John Faith from earlier this week at the Mobile World Conference. Below, he discusses how the company… Continue Reading