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StudiVZ integrates Nimbuzz mobile community technology

StudiVZ, the biggest German-speaking social networking site, is bringing real-time mobile communication capabilities to its members for the first time.

StudiVZ was the first in a series of international networking sites to integrate the Nimbuzz technology into its community. This is mobile VoIP, presence and IM provider Nimbuzz's first key revenue-sharing partnership with a social network.

"Our strategy is to promote the distribution and adoption of our mobile platform, which runs on a 50-50 ad-revenue-sharing model," said Tobias Kemper, head of communications for Nimbuzz, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "This is an easy entry point into our product.

"It makes a consumer's life easier by enabling communication with a zillion different communities with one device while on the go," he said. "It also creates stickiness for social networks, which become more attractive for advertisers.

"People will stay on the platform longer because they can chat, which allows for more ad impressions, meaning the site can serve more ads and increase revenue."

The partnership with StudiVZ is part of Nimbuzz's push to provide online communities with real-time Web and mobile communication.

With the Nimbuzz VoIP, presence and IM features, social networks can extend their offering beyond their current online networking experience.

Nimbuzz's also provides its clients with an additional ad-revenue stream.

The partnership with StudiVZ sees Nimbuzz entering a revenue sharing agreement with income generated from advertisements sold as part of the social network's own advertising opportunities.

Nimbuzz said that similar revenue-sharing deals with social networks in Turkey, Asia and Italy are imminent.

The Nimbuzz-powered Web and mobile clients are already available to StudiVZ members.

The Web chat is fully integrated into the existing StudiVZ interface, enabling IM conversations between all community members.

The full mobile Nimbuzz portfolio -- including voice calls, chat and file-sharing across popular IM communities -- is also be available.

A link to a bespoke download page will be promoted across the StudiVZ network.

Nimbuzz launched six months ago. Strategic distribution deals are its key targets for growth.

The ability of social networks to provide a complete day-to-day experience is restricted by the nature of the product being tied to the PC.

Nimbuzz offers them the ability to go mobile.

StudiVZ is one of the largest European social networks with more than 12 million members in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Nimbuzz's goal is to become the largest global communications platform for IP-based communication via mobile devices and social media platforms.

Nimbuzz offers a social interaction service combining presence, IM and VoIP.

The free application is available for mobile, PC and the Web, enabling calling, instant messaging, file location and file sharing across popular IM communities and 23 social networks, including Facebook and MySpace.

The company now has more than 1.5 million users since its May launch.

Nimbuzz claims to be getting 10,000 newly registered users every day.

"We're growing quickly, but want to grow faster still," Mr. Kemper said.

While Nimbuzz is aimed at the mass market, most of its consumers are single males 18-35 years old.

Nimbuzz has a presence in more than 200 countries.

"We haven't attacked the U.S. yet, but we will in the coming weeks with an iPhone application," Mr. Kemper said. "We still have to submit it to the App Store to receive approval."

"We're solely focused on getting new users, and we're advertising on the network to promote ourselves," he said. "We really want to make a big splash and get as many users as possible to become relevant to brands and marketers, as we plan to roll out a mobile advertising platform in 2009.

"We will keep our application free and accessible for everyone on any platform, any device, any operating system, any country, any time -- that's where we're focusing our development."