Lately I have been researching on specific company employees in order to line up some interviews for a side research project of mine. I blogged about the research resources about a month ago, but wanted to blog specifically about the company Wink.
When I initially blogged I had yet to check out Wink. Since then, not only have I checked it out, but find it to be a great resource. Out of curiosity I wondered if they were venture backed and it looks like they have raised three rounds of financing (the amount of the third round undisclosed) from Cambrian Ventures, Endeavor Group, The Founders Fund, Greylock Partners and some individuals.
Wink markets itself as a people search engine, searching such sites as Myspace, Bebo, Friendster, LinkedIn, etc. However, rather than just being a search engine, it has the value to a consumer of being a place that tracks online profiles with the ability of adding a widget to the consumer’s blog. If the user only has a couple of online profiles this probably isn’t a huge added value, but with someone with 33 profiles like Synstelien, this is a useful tool which in return helps Wink with the searching. (On my blogs I list my “digital footprint” so am jazzed to try out this new little widget …. look for it within the week).
Yet there seems to be more than just a profile placeholder. It has the community aspect with the ability to add friends, but not like the Myspace friends. It appears to be more for advice rather than just chit chat (note that this is my first impression and could change over time).
So the product is interesting with value, but now we must consider the business model. Yes… the business model. I don’t see a premium version option anywhere…. nor am I being bombarded with advertising….. I can’t imagine that the sites they are searching would pay them…. According to an interview with the CEO, Michael Tanne, it looks like it will have an advertising model and supposedly Google Ads are already being used (but I don’t see an ad anywhere).
My first thoughts are it is a great search engine (by far the best resource when it comes to social search) and I need to look into the consumer side further by creating a profile and adding a widget on my blog. More thoughts to come….
