7 ms·

LinkedIn charges $250 a year to view users' full profiles.

35 points by hapless 17y ago

ryanwaggoner 17y ago
Is this a new change? I don't feel like I've ever had a problem viewing someone's full profile, but maybe they define your network so broadly that if you have several hundred connections, it includes almost everyone?
tptacek 17y ago
Hasn't LinkedIn always worked like this? I can clearly still view the full profiles of everyone in my network, hapless.
- ohlol 17y ago
  Yeah. These aren't the droids you're looking for, yadda yadda yadda.
- hapless 17y ago
  I used to be able to google names and view their profiles. Now I can't. I think that's a change. (Maybe I just never found anyone I didn't have a 3rd degree relationship with?) Regardless, it's impressive that LinkedIn has found a way to monetize data created by users, straight-up. Even if it's annoying. It won't actually stop me from using LinkedIn, after all.
gojomo 17y ago
It's unclear what the comparison chart means for "Expanded LinkedIn Network profile views". Could I see any more of my own connections' profiles than I already do? (Can anyone with this service provide a comparative screenshot?)
- prakash 17y ago
  my understanding of the "Expanded LinkedIn Network profile views" is that you can view the profiles of folks you are not connected to and the ones that are typically a 3rd/4th/ no connection to your network.
rwebb 17y ago
monetizing data.
tjic 17y ago
I've got a fairly extensive list of contacts, and I've put them all into linked in ... ...and I never use it for anything. Obviously some people have figured out how to use LI for their benefit, but I haven't.
- keltex 17y ago
  Those "some people" are generally recruiters.
  - KiwiNige 17y ago
    I have a friend in (software/consulting) sales who uses it a lot.
    - rgrieselhuber 17y ago
      Same here. Found some business this way, so it's been worth it.
- nw 17y ago
  I agree. Would anyone care to share how they DO benefit from LinkedIn?
  - Frocer 17y ago
    Two of my biggest use of LinkedIn right now: 1. Request for introductions. If there's anyone I want to get connected with, first place I go to is LinkedIn and see if he is friends with any of my friends. If a friend of mine knows him, I will ask my friend to send a personal intro. 2. Look for outside experts. Yesterday I was looking to connect with some iPhone game devs. I posted a discussion on 2 LinkedIn groups (GameDevs, and Social Game Devs), and I have received over 10 messages already. It's a really powerful tool to create professional relationships.
  - paul9290 17y ago
    Currently use it to find those hiring(seeking work now) and then find them on Facebook and message them there. Ppl use facebook everyday and supposedly recruiters and HR people are perusing social networks to help with their hiring decision, so I'm using such too to highlight myself from the crowd. I use LinkedIn to gather info only, then find them on Facebook; they reply awesome, if not move onto the next one! I did subscribe once to LinkedIn and let them continue to charge my card. Though once i tried to cancel it i ended up in web consumer cancelation purgatory; they let u in but make insanely difficult to leave. All web services do this - ick. Have a dislike for LinkedIn and all that pull such crap!
Frocer 17y ago
While this irks me because I use LI quite a bit, but this is the reason why LinkedIn > Facebook. They know how to monetize really well. I have always wondered why Facebook doesn't charge annual fee for their service. They are at the point where if they charge me $20/year, I am too dependent on it to not pay that fee. While you can argue another free service may come along and take all that away from Facebook, but building a 250M user base is not trivial...
- ujjwalg 17y ago
  Personally speaking, I wont pay if facebook starts charging me $20/year. Rather, it might improve my life because I wont waste anytime on it. However, if google starts charging for gmail, I will totally pay an annual amount as long as they open a customer service center.
- jedc 17y ago
  They don't charge because a good number of people won't pay that $20/year. And if those friends/colleagues/family don't pay and aren't on the site, it becomes less valuable for you. And then suddenly you won't pay the $20. :)
jrockway 17y ago
I read the title and detected a bit of outrage. But really, I think this is great. If we want resources like this to exist, somehow they will eventually have to make money. Ads aren't going to work here, but this might. So it seems fine to me. (Actually, I have no use for LinkedIn, so I don't even have a profile. If I want to get a job or hire someone, I have other resources available. I believe they are called "friends".)
- Frocer 17y ago
  LinkedIn actually makes a lot of money from ads, their CPM is crazy... ~$75 last I read. Think of their demographics
oliveoil 17y ago
And they also charge for 'inmail' (drastically, see the link) which means if you accidentally stumble upon someone you'd actually like to talk to (potential business partner, employer,..) you gotta pay, there's usually no other way to talk to them.
- gaius 17y ago
  That was the business model of Friends Reunited - Facebook ate them alive.
timmorgan 17y ago
I suppose as long as LinkedIn doesn't become the next Classmates.com (in terms of holding data and contact info ransom after years of collecting them), I don't care too much. Glad to know they're paying the bills, and someone finds value (they're willing to pay for) in the service.
dzlobin 17y ago
Would everybody be onboard if someone released a free/supercheap version?
- patio11 17y ago
  This is a situation where something being free or cheap creates negative value. I get contacted through my LinkedIn account every once and a while because someone was looking for a bilingual programmer and we're rare as hen's teeth in my language pair and region. I have never actually been in the market for a new job, but they're typically pitching jobs which would be fairly attractive to me if I was. I don't get spammed daily by someone who searched for "All programmers listing Java experience" because LinkedIn's business model forces people to a) be serious about hiring from it (or you wouldn't be spending a few hundred dollars) and b) be selective about who you contact (rather than casting a dragnet).
  - dzlobin 17y ago
    That's a very good point
karzeem 17y ago
What is with the top option being $500/month? It's ten times the price of the second best account type but is only marginally more powerful. Are 15 extra requests for introductions and 40 extra InMails that valuable?
- padmapper 17y ago
  It looks like the only major distinguishing factor is daily rather than weekly alerts for saved searches... Perhaps it's useful for those recruiters who want to be the first to contact people when they get on the market?

35 points by hapless 17y ago

Is this a new change? I don't feel like I've ever had a problem viewing someone's full profile, but maybe they define your network so broadly that if you have several hundred connections, it includes almost everyone?

tptacek 17y ago

Hasn't LinkedIn always worked like this? I can clearly still view the full profiles of everyone in my network, hapless.

ohlol 17y ago
Yeah. These aren't the droids you're looking for, yadda yadda yadda.
hapless 17y ago
I used to be able to google names and view their profiles. Now I can't. I think that's a change. (Maybe I just never found anyone I didn't have a 3rd degree relationship with?) Regardless, it's impressive that LinkedIn has found a way to monetize data created by users, straight-up. Even if it's annoying. It won't actually stop me from using LinkedIn, after all.

gojomo 17y ago

It's unclear what the comparison chart means for "Expanded LinkedIn Network profile views". Could I see any more of my own connections' profiles than I already do? (Can anyone with this service provide a comparative screenshot?)

prakash 17y ago
my understanding of the "Expanded LinkedIn Network profile views" is that you can view the profiles of folks you are not connected to and the ones that are typically a 3rd/4th/ no connection to your network.

rwebb 17y ago

monetizing data.

tjic 17y ago

I've got a fairly extensive list of contacts, and I've put them all into linked in ... ...and I never use it for anything. Obviously some people have figured out how to use LI for their benefit, but I haven't.

keltex 17y ago
Those "some people" are generally recruiters.
- KiwiNige 17y ago
  I have a friend in (software/consulting) sales who uses it a lot.
  - rgrieselhuber 17y ago
    Same here. Found some business this way, so it's been worth it.
nw 17y ago
I agree. Would anyone care to share how they DO benefit from LinkedIn?
- Frocer 17y ago
  Two of my biggest use of LinkedIn right now: 1. Request for introductions. If there's anyone I want to get connected with, first place I go to is LinkedIn and see if he is friends with any of my friends. If a friend of mine knows him, I will ask my friend to send a personal intro. 2. Look for outside experts. Yesterday I was looking to connect with some iPhone game devs. I posted a discussion on 2 LinkedIn groups (GameDevs, and Social Game Devs), and I have received over 10 messages already. It's a really powerful tool to create professional relationships.
- paul9290 17y ago
  Currently use it to find those hiring(seeking work now) and then find them on Facebook and message them there. Ppl use facebook everyday and supposedly recruiters and HR people are perusing social networks to help with their hiring decision, so I'm using such too to highlight myself from the crowd. I use LinkedIn to gather info only, then find them on Facebook; they reply awesome, if not move onto the next one! I did subscribe once to LinkedIn and let them continue to charge my card. Though once i tried to cancel it i ended up in web consumer cancelation purgatory; they let u in but make insanely difficult to leave. All web services do this - ick. Have a dislike for LinkedIn and all that pull such crap!

Frocer 17y ago

While this irks me because I use LI quite a bit, but this is the reason why LinkedIn > Facebook. They know how to monetize really well. I have always wondered why Facebook doesn't charge annual fee for their service. They are at the point where if they charge me $20/year, I am too dependent on it to not pay that fee. While you can argue another free service may come along and take all that away from Facebook, but building a 250M user base is not trivial...

ujjwalg 17y ago
Personally speaking, I wont pay if facebook starts charging me $20/year. Rather, it might improve my life because I wont waste anytime on it. However, if google starts charging for gmail, I will totally pay an annual amount as long as they open a customer service center.
jedc 17y ago
They don't charge because a good number of people won't pay that $20/year. And if those friends/colleagues/family don't pay and aren't on the site, it becomes less valuable for you. And then suddenly you won't pay the $20. :)

jrockway 17y ago

I read the title and detected a bit of outrage. But really, I think this is great. If we want resources like this to exist, somehow they will eventually have to make money. Ads aren't going to work here, but this might. So it seems fine to me. (Actually, I have no use for LinkedIn, so I don't even have a profile. If I want to get a job or hire someone, I have other resources available. I believe they are called "friends".)

Frocer 17y ago
LinkedIn actually makes a lot of money from ads, their CPM is crazy... ~$75 last I read. Think of their demographics

oliveoil 17y ago

And they also charge for 'inmail' (drastically, see the link) which means if you accidentally stumble upon someone you'd actually like to talk to (potential business partner, employer,..) you gotta pay, there's usually no other way to talk to them.

gaius 17y ago
That was the business model of Friends Reunited - Facebook ate them alive.

timmorgan 17y ago

I suppose as long as LinkedIn doesn't become the next Classmates.com (in terms of holding data and contact info ransom after years of collecting them), I don't care too much. Glad to know they're paying the bills, and someone finds value (they're willing to pay for) in the service.

dzlobin 17y ago

Would everybody be onboard if someone released a free/supercheap version?

patio11 17y ago
This is a situation where something being free or cheap creates negative value. I get contacted through my LinkedIn account every once and a while because someone was looking for a bilingual programmer and we're rare as hen's teeth in my language pair and region. I have never actually been in the market for a new job, but they're typically pitching jobs which would be fairly attractive to me if I was. I don't get spammed daily by someone who searched for "All programmers listing Java experience" because LinkedIn's business model forces people to a) be serious about hiring from it (or you wouldn't be spending a few hundred dollars) and b) be selective about who you contact (rather than casting a dragnet).
- dzlobin 17y ago
  That's a very good point

karzeem 17y ago

What is with the top option being $500/month? It's ten times the price of the second best account type but is only marginally more powerful. Are 15 extra requests for introductions and 40 extra InMails that valuable?

padmapper 17y ago
It looks like the only major distinguishing factor is daily rather than weekly alerts for saved searches... Perhaps it's useful for those recruiters who want to be the first to contact people when they get on the market?