Bebo Launches Five European Localizations

Facebook might be the current king of North American social networking, but AOL's Bebo isn't throwing in the towel, launching localizations for France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Facebook might be the social networking platform du jour, but Bebo has always enjoyed a strong following in the UK and Ireland, and is now looking to expand its European footprint by launching new localizations in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch, as well as partnering with both new and established media brands to provide premium content in those langauges. And Bebo isn’t looking to be a walled garden: the service’s Lifestream feature enables users to keep up with their friends and favorites across a wide variety of services, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and others.

"The social networking audience is growing rapidly and our new sites will allow local users to connect with other users, entertainment and brands, both globally and locally," said Bebo’s international VP Nicole Vanderbilt, in a statement. "The richness of our experience lies in the user’s ability to express him or herself—as evidenced in our new Lifestory feature—and in the ability to connect to people, media and brands through the Lifestream and our Open Media Platform."

Bebo’s media partners for the expansion include AlloCine, RTL’s Clipfish, Telecom Italia-owned Yalp!, Diagonal View, and Preview Networks’ Filmtrailer: AlloCine will launch four channels on Bebo covering TV, movies, and film trailers, along four four channels in the UK. Clipfish will offer channels on Bebo Germany featuring everything from comedy to astrology, while FilmTrailer will offer localized versions of Hollywood releases.

Bebo currently operates in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, and Canada and claims more than 22 million users worldwide.