Tagged has purchased hi5, a transaction that brings together two companies that each have a different spin on social networking: Tagged is designed for meeting new people based on shared interests, while hi5 integrates games and highlights other premium content. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Members shouldn’t see any differences at first, since initially hi5 and Tagged will continue to operate as independent and freestanding brands. Future plans call for both to be updated and improved with additional social discovery capabilities.
There are a lot of members to be considered, too. Tagged has over 100 million registered users, while hi5 has more than 230 million registered users, a significant user base even assuming some duplication.
“An opportunity of this magnitude is uncommon and exciting as the addition of hi5 immediately doubles our overall active user base and grows combined registered users past 330 million members,” Greg Tseng, Tagged co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “hi5’s global footprint complements Tagged’s and instantly builds on our leadership position as the world’s first, largest and best social network to meet new people.”
Tseng and Tagged chief technology officer Johann Schleier-Smith worked with hi5 founder Ramu Yalamanchi in 2003 as part of a startup incubator, so on some level this is a reunion.
Earlier this month Tagged acquired natural language processing specialist Topicmarks, retaining that company’s staff while integrating its technology.
Related links:
Press release – http://tinyurl.com/7t8k7fq
Photo by Flickr user makelessnoise, used under Creative Commons license
