Back in November, people-search sites Reunion.com and Wink announced that they would be merging, and now it's happened: the sites have rebranded as MyLife, which can search over 60 social-networking sites (over 750 million profiles, the company says) and other information resources on the Web.
Among those social networks it can search are MySpace, Facebook (well, the public profile listings thereof), LinkedIn, Friendster, AOL's Bebo, Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces, Yahoo, and Twitter. New features include a Facebook-like news feed of contacts' activity aggregated across multiple social networks, and a "search scout" feature that keeps you updated on changes to past search results.
MyLife will still make money primarily through Reunion.com's business model of paid subscriptions, but CEO Jeffrey Tinsley said that "in the new combined site, in MyLife, now there are more free services than ever. So searching is free, many of the services are free, (but) there are still a handful of premium services." Among them are the ability to see who's searching for you, a potentially creepy feature that Tinsley said members will be able to turn off in their privacy settings.
Like Reunion.com, which the company says now has over 50 million members, MyLife targets a demographic older than the Facebook set. Out of its user base, 90 percent are over the age of 25 and 60 percent are over the age of 35. That's because its focus is on tracking down people with whom you've lost touch, Tinsley said.
"Our people search service has always naturally attracted an older audience," he explained. "Part of it is because the kids haven't lost touch yet."
Social network Reunion.com has made a new friend: people search service Wink. The two have merged in a new deal that promises to make it dramatically easier to find people on the Web.
Early next year, the merger will produce "an entirely new brand," the companies said. The two have not said what its name will be, nor have financial details been disclosed. With the dual technologies of Reunion and Wink, the companies say that they will be able to search more than 700 million social-networking profiles. They'll be able to search profiles on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, AOL's Bebo, Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces, Yahoo, Xanga, and Twitter--among others.
Numbers from Nielsen last month indicated that Reunion.com, which says it receives 12 million unique visitors each month, is one of the fastest-growing social networks in the U.S. despite the fact that it's hardly on the radar of Twittering blog pundits. Its biggest demographic, according to Nielsen, is those between 55 and 64 who are looking to re-connect with friends and classmates.
"Through this merger, we're redefining the people search space by bridging existing social networks and providing consumers with the tools they need to find, be found, and stay connected," Wink CEO Michael Tanne said in a release. "We're aiming to create an entirely new online experience that simplifies people's lives by making it easy to find and keep up with everyone they know. There will be exciting developments in the coming months as we integrate our strengths and push our business forward."
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