False

False msafiri Upwardly spreading the mobile net AccessKenya ( www. accesskenya. com) is investing US$ 3.5 million to develop the largest WiMax network in Kenya with an initial deployment of 35 base stations. The network will form the backbone of its Access@ Home residential broadband service. AccessKenya is also offering its existing corporate customers a special offer of free equipment and a 20% discount on the service. Jonathan Somen, Group Managing Director, said “ We will be able to provide guaranteed high- speed services to almost all potential customers in the main residential areas of both Nairobi and Mombasa.” 1 Yahoo! www. yahoo. com Yahoo! is the top online destination for users in Kenya. I expect that the main activity on this site is email and perhaps online chat. There are so many people who have Yahoo! email addresses and messenger accounts. If I were a marketer trying to reach out online in Kenya, I would buy ads on Yahoo! 2 Google Kenya www. google. co. ke 3 Google www. google. com Google, whose core business remains Internet search and online ads, recently set- up shop in Nairobi. Google Adwords and Google Adsense are the money machines behind their record earnings these last few years. The web giant is also acquiring DoubleClick ( www. doubleclick. com), one of the world’s leading online advertising networks. Google’s global site is Kenya’s third most popular site. 4 FaceBook www. facebook. com Who doesn’t love FaceBook! This high ranking might suggest that lots of companies are losing productivity as all their workers are busy adding friends to their lists every day! Facebook represents a superb marketing opportunity. A few months ago it launched profile pages, which allow companies to market themselves to FaceBook users. This initiative, in conjunction with buying ads on FaceBook, presents a compelling proposition to reach Kenyans online. 5 Windows Live Search http:/ search. live. com A latecomer to the search game, Microsoft’s search engine has grown significantly in the last few years, but still lags behind Google and Yahoo! Search. However, in terms of indexing and quality results, it’s been quite impressive. Live Search enables advertisers to market their offerings using sponsored listings, much like Google Adwords. 6 Hi5 www. hi5. com Hi5, like FaceBook, is a popular social network. On a global scale, it’s still far behind, but for some reason Moses Kemibaro investigates the marketing potential of 10 of Kenya’s most popular websites Q Moses Kemibaro is Managing Director of Dotsavvy Limited ( www. dotsavvyafrica. com), an East African digital agency Following its first day of trading in May this year, Safaricom shares soared as much as 60% during Kenya’s biggest ever stock market flotation. With annual profits last year of US$ 370 million, East Africa’s most profitable company employs over 1,000 people. President Mwai Kibaki, who launched Safaricom’s trading debut said: “ This IPO ( Initial Public Offering) is the most attractive in our history.” Oversubscribed by more than 500%, Safaricom’s sale of stock was the first chance for many Kenyans to own shares. OTHER TOP SITES USEFUL online marketing opportunities Q Wikipedia www. wikipedia. com Q MySpace www. myspace. com Q The Daily & Sunday Nation www. nationmedia. com Q The East African Standard www. eastandard. net seems to do better in several African countries. 7 YouTube www. youtube. com Google- owned YouTube is the world’s leading video sharing web site. Although slow Internet connections and erratic online experiences are not conducive to watching online videos, it’s refreshing to see Kenyan organizations such as NTV and the Kenya Red Cross with channels on YouTube. 8 MSN www. msn. com This site, which integrates a host of Microsoft offerings, has done well in the last few years as increasing numbers of individuals and companies migrate to online business. As a marketing channel, together with Windows Live Search, this site presents an excellent platform to reach Kenyans. 9 Blogger www. blogger. com As blogs gain more and more momentum online, Kenya hasn’t been left behind. This is an excellent marketing location for corporate blogs. 10 RapidShare www. rapidshare. com A file- sharing website that lets you upload up to 100 megabytes as a single file, this free service is perhaps a surprising entry in the top 10. It would appear that users in Kenya like to exchange files, probably in the form of music, applications and documents, online. President Mwai Kibaki receives a cheque of Kshs17 million from Safaricom Foundation Chairman Les Baillie, as the Communication Minister looks on at the State House. Safaricom Foundation and the Vodafone Group Foundation donated the funds to assist Internary Displaced People. ACCESS ALL 45 habariinspiration