Orkut's Hidden Millions (And How Google's Losing Out)

I stated earlier in this blog that Orkut has the potential of becoming another major source of revenue for the search engine king.

Although half of these involve indirect ways Orkut could benefit Google (through integration of its various services) they would none-the-less help diversify Google's cash flow as it's too heavily dependent on Ad Sense and print ads.

Here are four ways that I see Google profiting from Orkut.

1. Google Checkout: Many users already use the Internet to order books, music, packages, paintings, etc. online and I would not be surprised if many users do this on Orkut.
   
   Unfortunately, there is no way for them to do business within Orkut, so the most they can do is say, "here's my paypal email address" or send in the check via snail mail.
   
   Orkut could remove this barrier by allowing users to use Google Checkout as a means of exchanging cash between the buyer and the seller.


2. Picasa Web Albums: Although Orkut already has an album, it is pretty ghetto in my honest opinion. Although Joga's is an improvement, limiting album size based on amount is probably the wrong way to go.
   
   Orkut could eliminate this by having users upload photo's to Picasa Web Albums and having their images display on their photo albums. Users could then decide if they want to upgrade, which would benefit both Google and its millions of users.


3. License Forum Technology: I am not aware of how much money NikeFootBall.com paid Orkut to develop and maintain their site, but it must have been a kings ransom as one can easily see how much better Joga is compared to Orkut.
   
   With all of the Orkut clones popping up (with more on on the way) Google could easily license these for about $50-$70 as some companies are willing to pay up to $1000 or more for an exact copy of Orkut.
   
   Perhaps if they included it as part of a future premium Google Apps for Your Domain they may find many small businesses willing to pay annually (or even monthly) to have the Orkut team build them their own community forums.


4. Premium Accounts: With all of the spamming going around in the forums, this last one could be used to help separate legitimate businesses from those who are evil not.
   
   Premium users could pay a monthly fee and be able to post items from their Froogle store (like images of their product) on their business profile. Tying this in with Google Checkout would be convenient, although allowing extra options for payment (via PayPal, credit card, etc.) would be recommended.

Although Orkut could make money easily off the Ad Sense ads, some users have become annoyed by them and have asked me if I knew how to remove them from Orkut (since I was able to help out with the Joga Ad a long time ago).

Note: I'll continue to update this list as more ideas come along, although if anyone else has any other suggestions you can either scrap me or comment below.