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hi5 Partners with PlaySpan to Expand Virtual Goods Payments Posted: 14 Apr 2009 09:37 AM PDT Another partnership for hi5 means more virtual goods capabilities for the social network. PlaySpan has teamed up with hi5 for the launching of Micropayments, which can be used for virtual goods and premium content available on the hi5 network. The partnership with PlaySpan comes weeks after hi5’s partnership with Mochi Media, which expanded its game catalog. With this partnership, PlaySpan will offer two of its global payment services to all of hi5’s users. The two payment options include PayByCash and Ultimate Game Card, which extend an array of payment options users can have to purchase premium content. What the PlaySpan partnership does is broaden the ways in which hi5 users can participate in the growing virtual goods marketplace. As virtual goods have become central to hi5’s growth strategy this year, it’s increasingly important for the network to be able to extend several different payment options to users, beyond the credit card. Doing so expands hi5’s ability to earn revenue, while cultivating its virtual goods platform for itself, its users and its developer community. As PlaySpan already has a global presence, hi5’s partnership with this micropayments service also means that it’s providing payment options to all of its users, regardless of their geographic location. PlaySpan’s payment options are available in a reported 180 countries, with a total of 80 different payment methods around the world. And PlaySpan has been growing its own network approach, having become a payment option for a reported 1,000 gaming and social networks worldwide. Having found its niche as a ready-made payment option for site and game publishers, PlaySpan is likely looking to unify its service for users across the board. Taking advantage of larger sites such as hi5 for instituting its payment services is a huge step for a company like PlaySpan, especially as the virtual goods trend continues to sweep the social networks. Other companies such as Super Rewards are offering similar payment options to developers on platforms such as Facebook’s, though PlaySpan is partnering directly with the platform provider in its deal with hi5. Creating heavily integrated options for payment of premium features is another opportunity for growth, as it will become a necessity in the future of socially oriented virtual goods economies across gaming and social networks.

NileGuide Improves Travel with Search Filters, Comparison Tools Posted: 14 Apr 2009 06:03 AM PDT Travel site NileGuide is unveiling a new design and layout today, making it easier and cheaper to plan your travel trips with its online service. The new concepts behind NileGuide’s redesign are keeping trips within your budget, while also enabling you to minimize your carbon footprint. For starters, NileGuide has expanded on the basics; increased coverage for its geographic locations , and rolled out some new trip planning tools. For instance, new filters make search easier on NileGuide, many of which are custom to the site and are more intuitive for end users. Kid-friendly and hip are just some of the new filters applied to NileGuide’s updated trip planner. Where do the green features come in? Based on interests and improved location-based search tools, those that are environmentally conscious and others that merely want to go to nearby activities without taking a car, cab or even a bus are better able to plan around more specific landmarks. The added locations and custom filters fit nicely with NileGuide’s existing trip planning tools. NileGuide’s combination of search and planning options offer flexibility for users, and lets users browse through several options while adding trip activities and customizing the details of a trip later. But with the new NileGuide features, the setup and planning options are actually cleaner and less cluttered. Add this to the new one-click comparison tool NileGuide offers through a partnership with several search partners, and it’s clear that NileGuide is looking to simplify the trip planning process as much as possible. Incorporating search and planning tools from partner sites into its own site gives end users a centralized search service that also has several layers of its own database for a comprehensive service with a more natural flow. The new features also take NileGuide deeper into recommendations, collecting a great deal of information from users in providing custom trip planning tools. All this collected information folds back into itself in order to provide recommendation tools from NileGuide on a personalized level, improving filters and even helping partner sites for the purpose of improving their search capabilities as well.

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