PARIS and NEW YORK, July 15 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC
PR WIRE/ -- Hi-Media Group announced today that Fotolog, one of the world's
most-trafficked websites, ranks as the number one social network in Chile with
over 2.8 million monthly unique visitors and the number two social network in
Argentina with over 3.6 million unique visitors (comScore, May 2008). Fotolog's
rapidly-growing worldwide community of 18.7 million monthly unique visitors
(comScore, May 2008) is highly-engaged and is generating one of the largest,
most-global inventories of user-generated content.
Fotolog is a leader in Latin America, with over
12 million members across the region, and is leveraging its position with
initiatives -- such as a landmark cross-promotional advertising agreement with
25 Hispanic media outlets -- that are driving growth in Hispanic communities of
the United States.
"Fotolog's global growth has been powered by
our traditional strength in Spanish-speaking markets and we have successfully
sustained our momentum in Latin America while also bridging into explosive
growth across Europe," said Hi-Media Group Chairman and CEO, Cyril
Zimmermann. "By taking Fotolog's community mobile, we have further improved
the user experience and paved the way for valuable partnerships."
Argentina:
Chile:
Top
10 Social Networking Sites Top
10 Social Networking Sites
Total Unique
Total Unique
Visitors
(000)
Visitors (000)
Blogger
4,107
FOTOLOG.COM
2,824
FOTOLOG.COM
3,697
Blogger
2,577
Windows
Live Spaces
3,193
Facebook
2,019
Wordpress.com
2,090
Wordpress.com
1,392
Metroflog
1,742
Windows Live Spaces
1,391
Yahoo!
Geocities
1,513
Yahoo! Geocities
905
Sonico.com
827
Flickr
660
Facebook.com
742
Hi5
497
Hi5
734
Sonico
493
Flickr
652
Lycos Tripod
346
Source: comScore, May 2008
Fotolog's explosive growth confirms Hi-Media investment strategy
Fotolog was acquired in November 2007 by Hi-Media
Group, one of the top 100 largest Internet properties in the world (comScore,
May 2008) and one of Europe's largest diversified, publicly-traded pure play
Internet companies. By bringing
together Hi-Media's global advertising and micro-payment services with Fotolog's
rapidly-growing and highly-engaged audience, Hi-Media Group has created
significant monetization opportunities.
About Fotolog, Inc.
Fotolog is one of the most-trafficked social
networking sites in the world (Alexa, May 2008) and represents one of the most
active communities on the internet today. Among
social networking sites in Latin America and Europe, it is ranked first, second,
and fourth in Chile, Argentina, and Spain respectively. (comScore, May 2008)
Nineteen million member accounts from 200 countries have shared over 550 million
photos since Fotolog's inception in October 2002.
Fotolog has grown virally since its founding, with virtually no marketing
or member incentives. Fotolog was acquired in 2007 by Hi-Media Group
(www.hi-media.com), one of the top 100 media companies worldwide, with
advertising, publishing and micro-payments businesses.
About Hi-Media Group
Hi-Media is now one of the main worldwide
Internet publishers, with almost 30 million unique users putting it in the top
100 of the world's Internet media groups, according to Comscore. This audience
has been monetized by its integrated advertising network and its micro-payment
platform, that also provide these services to third parties, including more than
200,000 partner sites. Hi-Media is therefore one of the European leaders in
interactive advertising and electronic micro-payments. The group is present in 9
countries. Hi-Media is listed on the Euronext Eurolist Paris and is included in
the SBF 250, CAC IT and CAC Small 90. ISIN code:
FR0000075988