Inside Douban, China’s Truly Original Social Network | TechRice

Inside Douban, China’s Truly Original Social -

Limited revenue sources – Douban’s current revenue sources are disappointingly thin. The profit sharing model with Amazon is more limited than it sounds as most Chinese users turn to sites like Dangdang, whose loud mouth CEO and isn’t afraid to do what it takes to attract more users, including fierce price wars. Restrictions over social ads may backfire – Due to Ahbei’s resistance to displaying social ads in Douban, users need to either actively search for or stumble upon them. We can imagine marketers will react by limiting budget allocation to promotions in Douban. Considering how advertising drives the income for most internet sites, Douban will have to reconsider its strategy and consult with users in order to reach a beneficial balance. Slow user growth – Compared to other social sites, Douban’s growth is rather slow. Some of this is likely connected to Douban’s choic...

Full article: http://techrice.com/2011/08/11/inside-douban-chinas-truly...