Bebo co-founder and mega-millionaire Michael Birch today re-acquired the brand and the network for a million dollars. Like dance clubs, these faded (and forgotten) social network marquees are a rude reminder that social web is about people and people - especially young people are fickle.…
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Friendster founder launches social-news app, but will it fly?
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 MorepaidContent turns 10: A brief history of digital media
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix (s NFLX) thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do -- that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002.…
Read MoreFacebook and Google: lessons to learn from Myspace
Last week, News Corp. unloaded Myspace for a pittance. Understanding why Myspace failed to maintain its early dominance in social networking is critical to determining whether Facebook is similarly vulnerable, and whether Google+ is on the right track.…
Read MoreHandicapping Facebook’s Next Billion-Dollar Business(es)
Amidst reports that it was having trouble unloading $1 billion worth of shares at a very rich valuation, Facebook last week started testing its first home-grown social commerce product, Facebook Deals. Already facing stiff competition from Groupon and LivingSocial, will Deals be Facebook’s next billion-dollar business? Competitors, marketers and developers hoping to leverage the Facebook platform need to figure out how Facebook will continue to grow.…
Read MoreNew Friendster Owner Plans To Remake Site Around Games
Friendster, the long-time social networking site, which was purchased by Asian payment company MOL Global late last year, is moving away fro……
Read MoreFacebook Buys Friendster Patents for $40M
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 MoreFriendster Sold, Finally, To Malaysia’s MOL Global
The long and colorful saga of an independent Friendster is over, for now. As expected, it has been acquired, by the Malaysian company MOL Gl……
Read MoreMol Global Buddies Up With Friendster
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 MoreToday in Social
“Friendster still exists?” was the reaction of some to today’s news of the aging social network’s possible acquisition by a Chinese firm. It’s easy…
Read More$100M for Friendster After All These Years?
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 MoreFriendster’s Sale Could Come Very Soon, CEO Says
Social network Friendster put itself on the block this summer, and now it appears that the company could be sold by the end of December. CEO……
Read MoreFriendster Continues Asia Focus; Plans Include Expanding Ad-Sales Deals, Hiring
Although Friendster has long been eclipsed in the U.S. by MySpace and Facebook, it has never gone away; it just traveled overseas, mainly to……
Read MoreSocial Net Multiply.com Gets $5 Million From Philippines Media Firm ABS-CBN
Social network Multiply.com has received $5 million in funding from ABS-CBN, one of the Philippines' largest media companies. ABS-CBN has ac……
Read MoreFriendster Joins Bebo In Allowing Facebook App Compatibility
Making like Bebo, Friendster has announced it now supports both Facebook's code and OpenSocial, CNET reports. The move effectively enables F……
Read MoreFacebook Penetration Still Weak In Asia; Malaysians Overwhelmingly Choose Friendster
With ad agencies like WPP Group increasingly focused on Asia, Nicholas Guan, a social media researcher at the ad holding company's OgilvyOne……
Read MoreFriendster Closes $20 Million Round; Focuses On Asia Now; New CEO
Friendster has closed its new round of funding, in progress for most of this year, and it is a big one: it has raised $20 million in a new r……
Read More10 Tips to Widget-up Your Startup Brand
Widgets are taking social media by storm and becoming a valuable online marketing platform for interaction with consumers. Last June, comScore estimated…
Read MoreHow to Work The Room 4.0: Getting "Man-Charm"
Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in Larry Chiang’s series on “What They Don’t Teach You At Stanford Business School.” (He’s…
Read MoreLinkedIn Opens To Developers; So Does Friendster & Bebo
Two "old school" social networks have opened up, and Bebo is announcing later today: -- LinkedIn: Borrowing a cue from Facebook and others,……
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