PRESS: Russian businessman launches LinkedIn-like service

MOSCOW, Nov 23 (PRIME) -- Russian businessman Igor Molka has launched an analogue to the blocked LinkedIn, a U.S. business and employment-oriented social network, only in a desktop version so far, but experts do not think the idea will reach success of its predecessor, the Izvestiya daily reported Wednesday.

The project, called Link You, is similar in its design and operations to LinkedIn and was unrolled a month ago. The Web site offers users to fill in a CV and buy premium content for 300 rubles per month.

Unlike LinkedIn, Link You cannot search for people by companies, only by profession, age and gender. Link You also has a Like button.

Sergei Kravtsov, owner of company OMMG Technology, said the new project has no chances, and the LinkedIn audience will not switch to other networks.

“LinkedIn has a well-established audience, which has been using the resource for a long time, primarily, for international contacts. They know how to bypass blocking, and the service won’t lose its users, while analogues, seeking to ‘replace imports’, have almost no chances,” Kravtsov said.

“The service makes no sense within a single country; we have VK, Odnoklassniki and Facebook for communication. The idea behind LinkedIn is to look for contacts, let’s say, from Hong Kong, and Western companies aggressively look for our programmers to entice them or startups for investments,” he said.

According to the analytical service SimilarWeb, Link You had 65,000 visits in October.

(63.6282 rubles – U.S. $1)

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