Weblibraryjpn’s Weblog

mobage-town

Mobage-town: Japan’s Biggest Mobile-Only Social Network(August 16, 2008 TechCrunch)

There is a lot of hype and hope in the U.S. around taking social networks mobile, but mobile social networking is still in the fledgling stages in the West. In Japan, it is already a reality. One company in particular, DeNA , has taken Japan by storm with its mobile SNS/virtual world/gaming platform Mobage-town . DeNA opened a US office in San Mateo earlier this year, with plans to offer an English version of Mobage-town this fall.

Sales of Mobage-town seemed to have decreased for the first time according to news in Japan the other day.

It is thought that sales of Mobage-town decreased because the number of advertisements of the result reward type decreases.

The key to the service of Mobage-town is avatar.

And, to buy the dress etc. of this avatar, a virtual currency “Moba-gold” is being offered.

Moba-gold is a mechanism that it is possible to receive it by the user’s clicking the advertisement of the result reward type, and registering on the site of the advertiser.

The movement of the layer of young people in teens who was collecting Moba-gold having positively clicked the advertisement up to now decreases, and sales of the result reward type advertisement have decreased.

There was news that Mobage-town advanced to PC the other day.

For Mobage-town to advance to PC was to have done to cover sales.