CNET NEWS.COM — Aug 11 — Cyworld, a South Korean social networking site, kicked off a beta in the U.S. on July 27. ~18 million people in South Korea (~30%) have accounts with Cyworld, according to Cyworld. ~80% of 20 to 29 year olds in S.Korea visit daily. The service, which started in 1999, has since expanded into China (2 million users), Japan and Taiwan. Revenue is from advertisers, from hosting corporate-sponsored pages and also from selling background screens, charms and other graphics to for users to decorate their sites. The decorative services account for $300,000 a day in revenue / US $100 million a year. MySpace is expected to make $180 million this year, according to eMarketer. But MySpace has a base of 100 million members, five times as many as Cyworld. Cyworld has avoided some of the predator problems that hit MySpace by having users give their national ID number (like SS#). However, it won't ask for Social Security numbers in the U.S.
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