Six months on: Bebo still isn't the biggest social network in AU

From http://www.marketingmag.com.au/case_studies/view/in-the-spotlight-bebo-170

"Within six months we’ll be the largest social networking site in Australia.” Bebo’s Jim Scheinman at the ad:tech conference in February this year.

Whilst there's nothing better than a bit of blow in foreign exec optimism to get the media excited, I wonder how Schienman would be feeling about Bebo's current position in AU.

In July Bebo was at 719,000 users according to Nielsen Netview. Myspace was at 2.6m people. Facebook 3.4m.

Billy Bragg: "Social Networks want the use of our music without having to pay for it"

From the NY Times via TechCrunch

"The claim that sites such as MySpace and Bebo are doing us a favor by promoting our work is disingenuous. Radio stations also promote our work, but they pay us a royalty that recognizes our contribution to their business. Why should that not apply to the Internet, too?"

So says Billy Bragg who is asking the founders of Bebo - where is a slice of the $850m USD pie for the musicians who drove traffic to your site.

Bragg has contributed this article - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/opinion/22bragg.html?_r=1&ex=1363924800&en=ba1c862ef4fc894c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin - to the NY Times which calls for more formal definitions of artists IP rights through emerging digital platforms.

The radio analogy isn't a bad one - I always assumed the social networks would pay some sort of royalty per play of an artists steam - however it seems that they don't.

I put this hypothetical situation out there - imagine tomorrow all of the bands/artists/musicians etc who were on myspace shut down their pages - I wonder what it would do to their bottom line and revenues ...

I have never liked Billy Bragg as a performer but he is completely on the money here.

What is up with Yahoo!7 search?

Checking the latest Neilsen Netview numbers Yahoo!7 search is down 27% year on year ... surely an issue given it was given a strong push in January during the Oz Open and has been promoted heavily during key Network 7 programs in February.

Search
February 08: 1,231,000
February 07: 1,680,000

Source: Neilsen Netview, February 2008

Their ATL activity to push their Mail property has seen a modest 1,000 new users year on year (February 07 to February 08) currently sitting at 1,438,000 users. Over the same time the 'Email' category has added 301,000 users.

Mail:
February 08: 1,438,000
February 07: 1,437,000

The question must be raised on why this activity isn't generating results. Both the Y!7 search and Mail products are strong and robust services - so why aren't they being taken up. Mail wise there was a push to offer users a new domain (and the opportunity to get a new address) ... but the numbers don't seem to indicate this is adding additional users.

In other Neilsen news ... both myspace and Facebook saw month on month declines for February 08 - however when you factor in that February had 2 less days than a 'normal' month the drops are really cancelled out.

Social Networks February 08
Myspace: 2,662.000
Facebook: 2,377,000
Bebo: 629,000

Whirlwind week - catch up

Phew! What a week. With half the office out and my colleague burning up the stage at Ad:Tech, I haven't had a chance to post at all this week.

Not too much to report

AOL pays USD 850m for Bebo

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080313_479505.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

Hard to really comment on this given it just happened and Bebo isn't really much of a player in the AU market. Wonder whether it will affect the sales relationship Bebo has with Y!7? It appears from the article everyone else didn't want to touch Bebo - Yahoo, Disney, MSN etc

Disgraced NY governor Elliot Spitzer's drop in call-girl is also a wannabe singer

http://valleywag.com/367548/call-girl-beats-barenaked-ladies-radiohead-singer

Check amiestreet.com

Doubleclick and Google merger is now approved

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080311_855889.htm?chan=search

Green light from the EU means Google can now officially enter another realm.

Disney CEO: join the digital revolution--or hire people who can.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=78382&Nid=40401&p=921280

Eisner replacement lays down the a directive for Disney to significantly grow digital revenues.

YouTube coming to TV - via Tivo

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/technology/13tivo.html?_r=2&ref=media&oref=login&oref=slogin

When it is introduced this year (the exact time has not been specified), the YouTube service will be available only to TiVo users who have up-to-date hardware — a Series 3 or HD set-top box — and a broadband connection. Sounds cool, will Seven roll it out locally? Wonder what is actually happening with Tivo here.

Carlton Draught launch Skytroop

http://www.skytroop.com

Lots of video placements, plus a YouTube homepage takeover.

Feb: Social Networks plateau

Interesting stats on the state of Social Networking sites.

For the second straight month both Facebook and Myspace have not seen growth in user numbers. For January, Myspace had 2.93m users (down 2.5% on December) and Facebook had 2.51m (up 0.7%). The category as a whole (which includes Bebo, Blogger etc) was flat at just under 6.5m.

In January, Bebo lost just under 7% of its audience, with 700,000 unique users (down from 750,000). It is interesting to note that in the past 12 months Bebo has seen modest growth at best, adding 198,000 users

In terms of engagement between Facebook and myspace the two are reasonably on par. Myspace users spend 1 hour 29 mins on the site and visit on average 8.84 times; Facebook users spend 1 hour 12 minutes on the site and visit on average 7.48.

Whilst these social networks are all the rage, it's important to actually look at the data behind them. And the data tells a pretty clear story.

Usage is flat. Myspace has essentially remained stagnant in UBs for 7 months despite adding a heap of new channels. Facebook has gone from extreme growth to none in a very short amount of time. Bebo hasn't made a splash despite local operations and an alliance with Yahoo!

Engagement is stagnant. Users are not spending increasing time on these properties ... I think the people behind them need to try a little harder to keep these users engaged and on board ...

This phenomenon is also happening in the US ... see here (http://creativecapital.wordpress.com/category/its-official-us-social-networking-sites-see-slow-down/) that shows that myspace's issues here may just be the start (in the US it is experiencing a decline in engagement).