It’s hard being a social network not called Facebook, but myYearbook isn’t one of those erstwhile rivals being sold off for assets. Instead, it’s been seeing strong mobile growth and revenue growth over the last year, building on its $100 million merger with QuePasa in July. Expect both to accelerate with the launch of its new iPad app today (available here).
The company is now reaching half a million mobile users daily across major operating systems, chief operating officer and cofounder Geoff Cook tells me, with 200 million (unduplicated) monthly sessions in total. Android has grown to be the largest, beating iPhone usage by two to one. The set of mobile app developer acquisitions that the company did earlier this year seems to be paying off.
Revenue is also up. After posting revenues of $23.7 million last year, it’s grown to $36.3 million in the 12-month span through September.
The new iPad app, which you can download here, improves on the existing mobile interfaces by adding a multi-pane interface for doing things like flipping through profiles while using specific features like apps.
Look for it to get more of the main myYearbook.com site features early next year, Cook says. MyYearbook has transitioned from its roots as a high school social network to, in its words, the place to “meet new people near you.” That obviously translates to lots of dating-oriented features. It’s been launching games and other apps in-house, powered by its own virtual currency, that are designed to bring strangers together.
The iPad app already has some of those features in place, but so far it’s been monetizing through ads. The virtual currency is coming to mobile next quarter, Cook says, along with the games, which should help mobile monetization increase considerably. Dating apps, including mobile ones, have been quiet but substantial businesses.
Cook also says that the iPad launch should be a hit with its users, a company survey recently showed that a large percentage of them are expecting iPads from Christmas. He’s aiming for a repeat of last year, when the sales of iPod Touches helped fuel the year’s growth.
MeetMe® is the leading social network for meeting new people in the US and the public market leader for social discovery (NYSE MKT: MEET). MeetMe makes meeting new people fun through social games and apps, monetized by both advertising and virtual currency. With 60% of traffic coming from mobile, MeetMe is fast becoming the social gathering place for the mobile generation. The company operates MeetMe.com and MeetMe apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
If there is a gene for Internet entrepreneurship, then it must run in the Cook family. Geoff Cook, Dave and Catherine’s worldly wise older brother, already has one successful online venture under his belt. While a Harvard undergrad, he founded a set of online writing and editing services, EssayEdge.com and ResumeEdge.com, and he’s been using the lessons learned from those businesses to assist Dave and Catherine’s dreams of worldwide web domination. As his younger siblings can attest, when you’re starting...
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