Comments on: An analysis of Indian Social Networks http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/ The True Picture of the Internet & Technology Wave in India. No BS. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:43:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Vishal Lamba http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-3682 Vishal Lamba Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:42:19 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-3682 Porush, i dont think any site has really "broken even" or made significant revenues other than Bharatstudent. They have a fantastic "spamdexing" and "spamvertising" campaign going on all other the web ... you can see those pesky popunders appear when you visit a torrent site, warez site etc. These are FULL page ads served on a PPV basis. Most of them appear on sites that bharatsudents parent company axill has already signed up. They probably pay less than a cent per view... and so by spamming their ads all over - they're getting some significant amount of traffic on their site thats beating the current competition in the market. How much of this traffic they managed to convert and bring on as steady sticky users is probably very very low. But, as long as they keep the traffic increasing month-to-month, investors will get all excited. Note: most social networking sites in India are drab. I've mentioned before that the growth should be "naturally hyper-viral"... but this is not the case. Indian social networks are only growing in spurts IF they pump in online and offline ad money - which is a bad way to grow a Social Network site. As soon as ad activity stops - growth declines. This is bad news. However, sites like Orkut and Facebook continue to remain popular, sticky and full of activity from Indian users. Thats because they moved first and they have plenty of good interactive tools - and are naturally virally growing sites. So, my take is that, no Indian Social Network is really making much money - but they are probably channeling traffic to other online portals they own... and ofcourse trying hard to impress the VC community. Porush, i dont think any site has really “broken even” or made significant revenues other than Bharatstudent. They have a fantastic “spamdexing” and “spamvertising” campaign going on all other the web … you can see those pesky popunders appear when you visit a torrent site, warez site etc. These are FULL page ads served on a PPV basis. Most of them appear on sites that bharatsudents parent company axill has already signed up. They probably pay less than a cent per view… and so by spamming their ads all over - they’re getting some significant amount of traffic on their site thats beating the current competition in the market. How much of this traffic they managed to convert and bring on as steady sticky users is probably very very low. But, as long as they keep the traffic increasing month-to-month, investors will get all excited. Note: most social networking sites in India are drab. I’ve mentioned before that the growth should be “naturally hyper-viral”… but this is not the case. Indian social networks are only growing in spurts IF they pump in online and offline ad money - which is a bad way to grow a Social Network site. As soon as ad activity stops - growth declines. This is bad news. However, sites like Orkut and Facebook continue to remain popular, sticky and full of activity from Indian users. Thats because they moved first and they have plenty of good interactive tools - and are naturally virally growing sites. So, my take is that, no Indian Social Network is really making much money - but they are probably channeling traffic to other online portals they own… and ofcourse trying hard to impress the VC community.

]]> By: Porush jain http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-3679 Porush jain Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:27:18 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-3679 Hi Vishal, Really nice insights into the social networking business. I have a question for you .. has any social networking website in India broke even yet ? I think the basic revenue model for these sites is flawed and hence none of them has been profitable till now .I am myself working on a plan for niche social networking website , and i dont feel so good after your reading your post :) Hi Vishal,

Really nice insights into the social networking business.

I have a question for you .. has any social networking website in India broke even yet ?

I think the basic revenue model for these sites is flawed and hence none of them has been profitable till now .I am myself working on a plan for niche social networking website , and i dont feel so good after your reading your post :)

]]> By: Vishal Lamba http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-88 Vishal Lamba Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:47:34 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-88 Very very good point on the internal release strategy. I believe Reliance did try it with bigadda.com ... but i dont think it worked for them - as they don't have much experience trying to get into everything that smells good, and are just "me too" wannabes with a lot of spare change to burn. :-) Very very good point on the internal release strategy. I believe Reliance did try it with bigadda.com … but i dont think it worked for them - as they don’t have much experience trying to get into everything that smells good, and are just “me too” wannabes with a lot of spare change to burn. :-)

]]> By: Gurudatt Shenoy http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-86 Gurudatt Shenoy Sat, 18 Aug 2007 04:37:42 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-86 For every social networking site that says "myspace wannabe" the BIG factor is that it is the numbers that gather people. This means whosoever starts a social networking site has to first get registered users in the thousands if not in the millions on day one. There are many innovative ways of getting this. What people at Google and other software major do is they first release the software among their own community, be it university, friends and colleagues. They also have beta testers send out invitations and get some of their numbers there. Once they have the stuff buzzing, release the beta to general public. Most GOOD Indian social networking sites fail because of lack of clear and focused marketing strategy. The only Indian websites I frequent is rediff.com (for up-to-date news and self help excellent articles) and indianpad.com (for digging into the Indian psyche). For every social networking site that says “myspace wannabe” the BIG factor is that it is the numbers that gather people.

This means whosoever starts a social networking site has to first get registered users in the thousands if not in the millions on day one. There are many innovative ways of getting this.

What people at Google and other software major do is they first release the software among their own community, be it university, friends and colleagues. They also have beta testers send out invitations and get some of their numbers there.

Once they have the stuff buzzing, release the beta to general public.

Most GOOD Indian social networking sites fail because of lack of clear and focused marketing strategy.

The only Indian websites I frequent is rediff.com (for up-to-date news and self help excellent articles) and indianpad.com (for digging into the Indian psyche).

]]> By: Vishal Lamba http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-78 Vishal Lamba Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:57:02 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-78 Hi Sanjeev, Thanks for dropping by. Sorry, my mistake in the follow up comment. I did also mean features in addition to the UI, as said in my main post too. I'm a heavy user of Linkedin and am stuck there because if the large network I have developed. What value add can you give users like me - to make us switch over or add Brijj onto our backpack of Social Network sites? Thx. Hi Sanjeev,

Thanks for dropping by.

Sorry, my mistake in the follow up comment. I did also mean features in addition to the UI, as said in my main post too.

I’m a heavy user of Linkedin and am stuck there because if the large network I have developed.

What value add can you give users like me - to make us switch over or add Brijj onto our backpack of Social Network sites? Thx.

]]> By: Sanjeev Bikhchandani http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-76 Sanjeev Bikhchandani Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:15:09 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-76 Hi VIshal, Actually I had never said that the UI of brijj.com is not where we want it to be. What I had said was that some of the add on features (which arenot used by most users of networking sites) would come in in the months to come. The UI is complete and where we want it to be. It is the feature set that will be enhanced going forward. Regards Sanjeev Hi VIshal,

Actually I had never said that the UI of brijj.com is not where we want it to be.

What I had said was that some of the add on features (which arenot used by most users of networking sites) would come in in the months to come.

The UI is complete and where we want it to be.

It is the feature set that will be enhanced going forward.

Regards

Sanjeev

]]> By: riyak http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-69 riyak Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:49:03 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-69 It's 'claim to fame' nikhil. Your english seems as bad as your company's strategy. It’s ‘claim to fame’ nikhil. Your english seems as bad as your company’s strategy.

]]> By: Vishal Lamba http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-63 Vishal Lamba Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:43:35 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-63 <p>No, the interface of Brijj is not as advanced and well made as Linkedin. Their CEO Sanjeev Bhikchandani has agreed to this, and has also said they will be improving it and adding more features in the coming months. He says he wanted to get into the market in India "early" before others move in, and thus took this decision to launch a sort-of incomplete website. I am not the only person with this view.</p> Also, Brijj is not global but is targeted mainly at Indian professionals. No, the interface of Brijj is not as advanced and well made as Linkedin. Their CEO Sanjeev Bhikchandani has agreed to this, and has also said they will be improving it and adding more features in the coming months. He says he wanted to get into the market in India “early” before others move in, and thus took this decision to launch a sort-of incomplete website. I am not the only person with this view.

Also, Brijj is not global but is targeted mainly at Indian professionals.

]]> By: Nikhil Tandon http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-60 Nikhil Tandon Sun, 12 Aug 2007 18:25:55 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-60 Hey, I just wanted to what is the fame to glory of the individual who is giving comments like these about brijj.com I think Networking today is more global than local, unless ofcourse your running ur own kirana store. But then, the target audience of Brijj is Global. The interface and UI of Brijj is better than that of linkedin, and Im sure that once the site is more complete, you will understand the strategy adopted by the incumbents. By the way, im stil waiting to hear of the fame to claim of the person who has authored this blog saying that.. Brijj.com (FYI as quoted in the blog above(I think its a very biased view point)"Verdict: Too early to say, but they wont make it.. as their fundamental idea is incorrect - as in todays networked era, Business Networking is Global and not local. They may not be able to provide users with a good enough value add. And even users who initially sign up, may probably end up moving to Linkedin - once they hear of it, leaving Brijj deserted." Cheers.. Hey, I just wanted to what is the fame to glory of the individual who is giving comments like these about brijj.com

I think Networking today is more global than local, unless ofcourse your running ur own kirana store. But then, the target audience of Brijj is Global. The interface and UI of Brijj is better than that of linkedin, and Im sure that once the site is more complete, you will understand the strategy adopted by the incumbents.

By the way, im stil waiting to hear of the fame to claim of the person who has authored this blog saying that..
Brijj.com
(FYI as quoted in the blog above(I think its a very biased view point)”Verdict: Too early to say, but they wont make it.. as their fundamental idea is incorrect - as in todays networked era, Business Networking is Global and not local. They may not be able to provide users with a good enough value add. And even users who initially sign up, may probably end up moving to Linkedin - once they hear of it, leaving Brijj deserted.”

Cheers..

]]> By: TekChakra.com » Indian Social Networks. Whats going on? http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-55 TekChakra.com » Indian Social Networks. Whats going on? Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:30:02 +0000 http://tekchakra.com/2007/08/11/an-analysis-of-indian-social-networks/#comment-55 [...] As a second part to this post, I will review the players in the Indian market, including the overseas global networks like Orkut, Facebook, Linkedin etc. that are spreading like wild fire amongst Indians. I will base my review purely on readily available stats and research. You may read the second part to this post here. [...] […] As a second part to this post, I will review the players in the Indian market, including the overseas global networks like Orkut, Facebook, Linkedin etc. that are spreading like wild fire amongst Indians. I will base my review purely on readily available stats and research. You may read the second part to this post here. […]

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