RockYou, the leading creator and publisher of social applications, today announced that it is among the most successful application developers on hi5, a leading international social network with over 80 million registered members worldwide. Within the first week of hi5’s new developer platform, RockYou rapidly deployed 20 applications on hi5 and had already achieved over one million installs for its SuperFive! Social application, which was modeled after hi5’s popular “Fives” feature. This marks yet another significant milestone for the company. Throughout its two-year existence, RockYou has seen nothing but explosive growth, from its early days as a widget developer for MySpace — where it still attracts over 130 million widget views a day — to Facebook — where it has become that network’s most prolific and popular developer of social applications. With its early success on hi5 and through OpenSocial, RockYou’s reach now extends to millions of users across every major social network, and the company shows no signs of slowing down. According to hi5 data, RockYou’s new applications have quickly become favorites among hi5 users. For instance, the SuperFive application has grown from 1.4 million user installs as of April 7 (seven days post-launch), to over two million installs today. Other current top ten applications include SuperComments, Drinks, Graffiti, Likeness, and Gifts, placing RockYou squarely at the top of the popularity heap.

To quickly develop and spread its applications on hi5, RockYou utilized OpenSocial, the community-governed specification for building applications across the social Web, as well as hi5’s numerous user distribution channels (such as notifications, invites, messages, and friend updates). Using OpenSocial paves the way for RockYou to easily expand the success of its hi5 applications to other social networks and websites participating in the OpenSocial initiative.

“Open Social rocks! Many sites, one API,” said Lance Tokuda, CEO and co-founder of RockYou, “We commend hi5 for creating the fastest growing social application platform we’ve ever seen. RockYou is committed to enriching the already engaging experience that hi5 provides to its growing base of users.”

The opportunity for brand marketers is significant. Using RockYou’s ad network, a company can deliver highly targeted messages to over 60 million users, spread across multiple social networks. Major media companies using RockYou’s network have seen positive results in excess of their expectations, and as RockYou spreads its reach across hi5 and other major social networks, the speed and relevance of such marketing campaigns will only grow. RockYou’s embrace of OpenSocial will greatly support it deploying its applications to other participating networks, like MySpace, at a high speed and low cost.

“RockYou has done an impressive job leveraging our platform’s capabilities, and delivering applications of interest to our diverse user base,” said Ramu Yalamanchi, hi5’s Founder and CEO. “We congratulate them on their early success on the new hi5 Platform.”

About RockYou:
RockYou is the leading innovator, creator and distributor of widgets and applications on the social web. The company offers customized branding and advertising opportunities on Facebook and can deploy applications across any social network, including hi5, MySpace, Bebo and Friendster. RockYou’s advertising platform is the largest Ad Network on Facebook and the most dynamic way for brands and advertisers to reach application users. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, RockYou is funded by Sequoia Capital, Partech International and Lightspeed Venture Partners. For more information, please visit http://rockyou.com

online social network MySpace Tuesday launched a Korean service to try to penetrate a highly competitive market dominated by local players, officials said.The service, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has exclusive features tailored to local users such as “minilogs,” a type of online notebook in which users can make daily jottings.

MySpace faces strong competition from local firms such as market leader Cyworld, which commands some 18 million users running blog-style homepages and uploading photos, comments and other multimedia contents.

“We don’t think MySpace will pose a great threat to our service, which is based on strong off-line group ties,” Cyworld spokeswoman Shin Hee-Jung told AFP.

“There is a positive factor. The Korean service of MySpace is expected to enlarge the domestic market,” she said.

MySpace president Chris DeWolfe has arrived in Seoul for talks with industry personnel and Internet users, Yonhap news agency said.

South Korea is one of the world’s most wired countries, with some 70 percent of homes having high-speed Internet access. But it has largely shunned popular overseas services.

The world’s top Internet search engine Google, which launched a Korean-language site in 2000, has been striving to boost its presence here.

So you bought a Segway, and you’ve mastered that whole not having to walk around thing. Congratulations. Now comes the greatest obstacle of all: finding other people who share your love for the two-wheel electronic transportation device. Until now, being a Segway owner has been a fairly lonely existence, riding down the street, longing for the day that a roving band of Segway riders might ask you to join their ranks.

Well, long no longer. Segway Inc. has launched the new Segway-specific social networking site, Segway Social, allowing Segway owners to create profiles, read news, tag photos, and create groups.

“After listening to customer feedback, it was clear that the Segway community wanted, and needed this tool,” said Carol Valianti, the company’s vice president of global communications of the new site. “Our goal is to foster growth and communication in an already exuberant and growing fan community. Creating a social media tool that facilitated this seemed natural. We already had a very social community–now we’re giving them a better set of tools to connect with each other, in a new Web 2.0 kind of way.”

I signed up for a trial account, as a prospective Segway owner, and met with the not especially reassuring message, “[t]ake advantage of this preview to see how a Segway PT can fit into your life. We’re not a cult, but we’d love for you to join the family!”

For more information, check out Segway’s Last Mile blog.

Hearst Magazines Digital Media division has entered into an agreement with instant messaging and social network firm Spleak, Media Week reports.

The deal will see content from titles including CosmoGirl and Teen distributed through the recently launched CelebSpleak application, which is now available on MySpace, Facebook, and AOL and MSN’s instant messaging services.

The app delivers ‘tattles’ - nuggets of celebrity news - and allows users to respond.

“There’s great value in both UGC [user-generated content] and professional, editorial content. Most of the time the two end up in conflict with one another, but Spleak has found the right way to combine the best of both worlds.” Morrie Eisenberg, CEO of Spleak Media Network, told Media Week

As marketers are searching for relevant ways to connect with consumers, IceBreaker Inc., a pioneer in mobile social software, today announced a new interactive mobile advertising feature called Golden Ticket(TM) which is now an integral part of the Crush or Flush community. Crush or Flush is a social network where members meet people (http://www.CrushorFlush.com), chat (http://www.CrushorFlush.com) and flirt (http://www.CrushorFlush.com) by browsing real picture profiles and decide whether to ‘Crush’ or ‘Flush’ them. Members average 100 page views per day in the Crush or Flush community and with the introduction of Golden Ticket, members can discover sponsored branded picture profiles while exploring other member profiles. More unique and engaging than traditional banner ads, Golden Ticket profiles gives marketers the ability to deliver high value brand impressions through an immersive experience that is targeted, relevant, exclusive and provides members the choice to engage directly with the brand or dismiss it.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070814/AQTU093LOGO)

“Mobile advertising has great growth-potential and we predict that advertising revenues within on-deck mobile social networking services can reach $102.6 million by 2012,” said Vikrant Gandhi, a senior analyst with Frost & Sullivan. “The model presented by Crush or Flush is innovative and promising by allowing people to interact with brands as if they were real profiles on the site while also opening a new revenue channel for online and mobile social networks.”

During testing phases earlier this year, the feature received positive feedback over the duration of a highly visible Valentine’s Day promotion. Five Golden Ticket sponsorships ran in the community and on average, 82 percent of the site’s members chose to ‘Crush’ the brands. Each brand was coupled with a special Valentine’s Day promotion which offered members an incentive to interact with the brand. Specifically, the 106.1 KISS FM Golden Ticket gave members an extra entry to win a vacation package, flat panel TV, and invited them to sign up to become a KISS VIP. This mobile promotion was tied into an on air promotion and both Crush or Flush and 106.1 KISS FM saw a high level of brand engagement.

“The Crush or Flush service is a good match for our target demographic” said Marc Apple, Promotion Director, 106.1 KISS FM. “We were pleased with the Golden Ticket results which were a twist on our traditional integrated marketing communications plan and drove brand awareness, loyalty and sign ups for KISS VIP.”

Golden Ticket sponsored profiles consist of a photo of the brand and tags describing the product. For example, a member with the tag ‘music’ may come across a branded profile promoting KISS FM, giving the member the option to ‘Crush’ or ‘Flush’ the profile. If the member crushes the profile, they have the option to engage further by clicking a link to sign up for a KISS event, download a song, or join a VIP program.

    More details on the Golden Ticket feature:
    --  Exclusive availability: Golden Ticket placements are exclusive by
        category: automotive, elections, fashion, games, movies, music,
        mobile, sports, and travel. New categories will open based on market
        demand.
    --  Cameo appearance: the site programs how frequently members see
        sponsored profiles. Based on real time performance, market demands and
        campaign goals, Crush or Flush and marketers can adjust the frequency.
    --  Inviting brands to your circle of friends: The Golden Ticket allows
        marketers to find customers who are willing to promote their brands
        within their peer groups.

“We’re excited to launch an immersive ‘opt-in’ brand experience and open up a new revenue model,” said Josh Levine, vice president of marketing for IceBreaker. “Advocacy is the holy grail of advertising and brands are clamoring to move beyond awareness and usage metrics to ultimately find customers who are willing to promote their brands within their peer groups.”

For information on the Golden Ticket or Crush or Flush visit http://www.icebreaker.mobi or send an email to ads@icebreaker.mobi.

About Crush or Flush(TM)

Members create picture profiles with tags and personal descriptions so that others can see who they are and what their interests are. Members then browse picture profiles by gender, age, location, and interest. If they find someone they like, they ‘Crush’ them. If not, they ‘Flush’ them. When two people like each other, they are notified of their mutual crush and can send anonymous text messages to each other without giving up any of their personal information. Further contact is up to them. Members will never know if they have been flushed, saving embarrassment for all. Crush or Flush is available through the mobile web on all cell phones, carriers and operators across the U.S. To sign up for Crush or Flush, text ‘FREE’ to CRUSH (27874) on your mobile phone or visit http://www.CrushorFlush.com.

About IceBreaker, Inc.

Based in Bellevue, Washington, IceBreaker Inc. helps people connect through mobile social software that is engaging and easy to use. IceBreaker software and services are designed first and foremost for cell phone users, ensuring a positive mobile experience through the world’s most ubiquitous device. Crush or Flush is IceBreaker’s flagship product — a fun, safe, and easy to use mobile social networking platform that helps people meet, maintain friendships, and express themselves through their cell phone — anytime and anyplace. Please visit http://www.icebreaker.mobi for more information.

Website: http://www.icebreaker.mobi/
Website: http://www.CrushorFlush.com/