Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams has launched a news-filtering service called Nuzzel that is powered by social-networking activity. But while his previous ventures have been early to the market, his new offering suffers from the opposite problem — the market is already saturated with similar services. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
The recently rolled out Google+ is Google’s latest effort to get a handle on something that so far has eluded the company: gaining access to the data users generate when they post status updates, share photos and comment on friends’ activities. More and more, these social ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Facebook bought the entire Friendster portfolio of social networking patents earlier this year. The company bought the patents from Friendster acquirer MOL in a deal that included advertising,a partnership for payments for virtual goods and cash, and was valued at $40 million. Read more »
Friendster’s long startup saga is over: Malaysian payment company Mol Global has agreed to buy it for an undisclosed amount. Mol recently became the payments provider for the social networking site, which claims 115 million users and reportedly sees 90 percent of its traffic from Asia. Read more »
Friendster has managed to survive as an independent company for seven years, but a sale of the social network to a buyer from Asia (where the site has become quite popular, especially in the Philippines) is imminent, according to a report by Reuters. The company is expected to be sold for more than $100 million by the end of the month, which frankly isn’t all that bad of a return after years of technical problems, last-ditch strategies and management changes. Read more »
Widgets are taking social media by storm and becoming a valuable online marketing platform for interaction with consumers. Last June, comScore estimated that widgets reach 177 million people every month, or 21 percent of the worldwide online audience. ComScore’s tracking methods are debated (see also Techcrunch: […] Read more »
