Search Engine Journal

Got Friendster? Got Advertising!

In an effort to increase its revenue, Friendster—the internet’s first official “social networking” vehicle—has just partnered up with DoubleClick to increase advertising on its site. Friendster, originally launched during a period of decline in the online advertising sector and now boasting roughly 13 million users, initially experienced problems raking in the ad dollars.

Their one time experiment with sponsorships, featuring fictional characters that users could interact with (one promoted the movie, “Anchorman”), was met with mixed results among consumers. But as the recent industry growth we’ve seen proves, DoubleClick’s more traditional online ad model may be the answer to their marketing growing pains.

Members like us might still wind up annoyed to see the ads at all, but frankly we’ve got bigger fish to fry—like pondering why we can’t see who keeps viewing our profiles.

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Reprinted by permission of ADBUMB, Inc.