Though it has been no secret that Facebook has had hopes of expanding its territory into international markets, there has been renewed buzz lately thanks to The Financial Times reiterating this on Sunday, and a comment made by Facebook to MSN.
MySpace may be king of social networking in the U.S., but Facebook has taken the leadership position in English-speaking countries outside of the states, including Canada. Meanwhile, it has been closing ground on MySpace in the U.K. Recently, Australian companies were noted to be increasingly blocking Facebook.
“Translation at some level is definitely on our radar. International growth is one of a few things that we are very focused on right now,” said Facebook to The Financial Times.
MySpace has already made headway in foreign language markets, so a big hurdle already exists for Facebook to hop. This is not to mention individual countries’ own home-grown social networks.
This could also be part of the reason why Facebook has seemingly been so hesitant to accept offers of suitors like Yahoo!. It’s clear that a strong international presence to go along with its strong U.S. presence would boost its value immensely.
Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21070712/
http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9788354-36.html
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/10/01/facebook-to-expand-globally
Jason Hahn
e: jhahn221@gmail.com
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