Russia’s Odnoklassniki (Classmates) social network to run Kazakh-language version

The Kazakh-language version of the Russia’s Odnoklassniki (Classmates) social network will be launched in the Q1, 2012, KazTag Agency reports, citing Alexander Izryadnov, Mail.ruGroup’s Director for Marketing and Strategic Communications. “Localization envisages integration of locally produced content as well as certain adjustments of the social network to the local culture”, Mr. Izryadnov said April 24. He elaborated that at the initial stage of the project only the mobile version will be customized, with the full version to follow later on. Localization is part of Mail.ruGroup’s plan to tap into the CIS markets. The project started in Uzbekistan. By the autumn it will have covered Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Odnoklassniki (Classmates) social network is part of Mail.ru Group. According to Liveinternet, daily audience of the social network stands at over 33 million people. The number of profiles exceeds 110 million. The network is daily accessed through about 8 million mobile phones. Odnoklassniki.ru is ranked #66 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. Mail.Ru Group operates Russia's leading e-mail service Mail@Mail.Ru and the two largest IM networks in Russia – Mail.Ru Agent and ICQ. The Company operates two of the three largest Russian-language online social networking sites – My World@Mail.Ru and Odnoklassniki.ru – and own a strategic minority equity stake in the social network Vkontakte. Mail.Ru Group is also Russia's largest online games company. The company’s portfolio of online games includes 34 MMO games and more than 30 games for social networking sites.