As I’ve reported in past, SNS services are really hot in Japan. While mixi went public with more than 7mil members, and Softbank to offer Japanese version of MySpace, there’s a new trend in SNS market in Japan.
At nanoty.jp, you can create your own SNS site for free. From mid to the end of October, more than 1000 SNS sites were created within 2 weeks period of time.
Most of SNS sites created using nanoty are for small and targeted markets categorized by interests and groups, i.e., music, sports, pets, school alumni, and cities. Some are family SNS sites where family members can communicate with messages and photos.
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Motoko Hunt
President & Search Marketing Strategist at AJPR
Motoko Hunt manages the SEO for all of Adobe's properties in Japan and the
APAC region. Prior to joining Adobe, Motoko established AJPR in 1998; she
has been providing search marketing consulting services targeting Japan and
Asia to companies around the world. Her services have made a big impact on
the search marketing campaigns of some of the world's most popular
multi-national brands. A number of her articles have been published on industry
websites and printed media including MultiLingual Computing and the International
Journal of Localisation. She also writes about the Japanese online market on her
blog at AJPR and contributes to several online magazines in Japan and Asia.
She served as a member of the board of directors of SEMPO in 2010-2012, and
is a chairperson of the SEMPO Asia-Pacific Committee.
Latest posts by Motoko Hunt (see all)
- Yahoo Japan’s E-Commerce Revolution: No Fees Model - October 7, 2013
- Rakuten Inc. to invest US$100million in Pinterest - May 20, 2012
- Yahoo, Alibaba and Softbank have reached the agreement on Alipay - August 2, 2011
Hi Motoko,
Interesting story…
A new entrant called “uStar.jp” is quite good to. you should go and have a look.
Cheers
Takehiko
Good move by Overture. I’m sure you’re spot on about Google’s use of Gmail’s strategy to spread their reach. Will they catch Yahoo? What is the market share for each these days?
Hi David,
Overture has started providing the ads to mixi.
I’m sure Google is looking for the opportunities to expand the ads market, too.
Google’s decision to provide Gmail to any one in Japan is a part of their efforts to expand the reach in Japan.
Mixi made a good move adding SNS to the mix after starting with job search. Sure will give Gree and Any a run for their money. Social networking is hot and Myspace is sure to jump on the bandwagon in Japan. Do you think Google will try to get horn in on the advertising with that?