Renren
NYSE: RENN
Analysis of China’s largest real-name social network from a search engine marketing perspective.
Strengths
- Prominent high-quality links from China’s most popular websites promoting their profile pages and from international websites discussing the company’s stock.
- API and widgets augment the Renren network effect, e.g. share buttons and Renren Connect.
- More than just profile pages: Apps, Club (forum), Games, Groups and Movies
Risks
- Indexing issues: except for public profile pages of brands and celebrities, Renren does not allow visitors or search engine spiders to view profile pages without being logged in.
- Public profile pages often keep their standard URL in addition to having the same content on their branded subdomain. For example, ASUS has http://page.renren.com/600008765/index and http://asus.renren.com with exactly the same content.
- Many subdomains have backlinks but lack any content, especially ones owned by brands, e.g. pringles.renren.com, starbucks.renren.com, and nivea.renren.com
- Movie descriptions on movies.renren.com are duplicate content. Other Chinese movie websites are better optimized and rank above Renren for names of movie titles.
- Use of numbers in the URL instead of text. Kaixin001 does the same here, but Facebook allows users to pick unique vanity URLs.
- Facebook strikes a deal with Baidu or another domestic Internet darling that allows it to get past the Great Firewall.
Competitors
- Kaixin001.com
- Facebook.com
- Pengyou.com
- 51.com
If you’re interested in discussing further analysis of Renren or other firms, please contact us.
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