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When we think of successful social networks we (North Americans) immediately think of MySpace and Facebook. But have you ever heard of Tencent.com or their social network brand QQ.com? In 2007 they made 523 million USD in revenues, nearly 4x what Facebook made during that same period.
Tencent’s user base has grown to 300 million active IM users, and 741 million users in total. Tencent is more than just a social networking platform. Since developing an IM application 9 years ago, they have developed various online outlets including a web portal, online game, blog and wireless portal.
As Tencent and QQ’s user base keeps expanding, they are quickly becoming an everyday tool for the Chinese. Many Chinese companies are even using QQ to communicate with their clients.
Another reason for Tencent’s and QQs success, is that they have expanded into many offline sectors, and they have become one of the leading providers of internet and mobile services in China.
In North America we have seen nearly every large offline company include online development into their business model, but for some reason, everyone seemed surprised when Google began expanding into newspaper and TV advertising.
The business model of Tencent and QQ may be a sign of things to come. So don’t be surprised when you hear that MySpace and Facebook begin expanding offline.
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