Social-networking sites going global

SAN FRANCISCO -- MySpace, Facebook and other social-networking sites aren't just slugging it out for customers in the USA.

They're expanding aggressively overseas, where a vast majority of Internet users live.

Most are targeting Asia and Europe, both of which have more users of social networks than the USA, and are growing at faster rates, according to data from market researcher ComScore Media Metrix. Some are launching new sites, others are offering translation applications, and some are acquiring sites that are popular in specific countries, such as Russia.

About 80% of the world's estimated 1.2 billion Internet users are outside the USA, according to Computer Industry Almanac. Half the $40 billion online advertising market is non-U.S., says eMarketer.

"It's a land grab, as well as a form of insurance in case the U.S. market proves itself to be fickle," says Marissa Gluck, an analyst at Radar Research. "When you look at Internet use globally, the U.S. is a small but significant chunk. It's also beginning to plateau in terms of growth."

Facebook has developed an application to translate words on the site from English into other languages. On Thursday, Facebook said a Spanish translation is available. Anyone who wants to view Facebook in Spanish can change their language preference from their account settings. German and French versions are expected in coming weeks.

"Unlike other companies, we are not launching separate sites for different countries," says Matt Cohler, vice president of strategy at Facebook. "This is driven by local users."

In September 2006, 7% of Facebook's 10 million active users were outside the USA. Today, 60% of its 63 million active users are.

This year, MySpace is opening operations in Russia, Turkey, Poland and Portugal, among others. It opened its first office overseas, in London, in May 2006. It's in nine of the top 10 Internet markets. The 10th, South Korea, could soon be next.

"We see a surge of growth overseas, and more potential users than the U.S.," says Travis Katz, managing director of MySpace's international operations in 25 countries. About 45% of MySpace's 110 million members are outside the USA; a year ago, it was 15%.