Teen networking site Piczo readies European expansion

Piczo, the social networking site for teens, is set to expand into three new European markets: France, Germany and Spain.

The new regional online communities will use local languages in what marks a new stage of development for Piczo. Initially to be run from the London office, Piczo aims to appoint dedicated management and marketing teams for the new divisions.

European managing director Chris Seth says the initial three-market push will drive the next stage of Piczo’s international development.

"The launch of Piczo in French, German and Spanish caters for the needs of our users and our monetisation strategy. These are key markets for growth, and although the UK is ahead in terms of online adspend, these markets are catching up fast," says Seth.

He says Piczo’s localised strategy reflects users’ behaviour and will allow advertisers to communicate with teens on a local level in their own language, as well as on a broader pan-European platform.

Piczo has more than 1.2 million unique users in Germany — a sixfold increase since September 2006. Seth says he expects further growth, adding that a Spanish-language site has huge potential for growth in Latin America — the next likely area for expansion.

Piczo, which unlike MySpace or YouTube, is run on a permission-based model, last month announced an exclusive UK partnership with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions.