LinkedIn to let companies target members by language, location

LinkedIn on Tuesday rolled out a new feature that allows companies to target audiences by language preference and geographical location as it seeks to grow and retain members across the world. "Before we would show you everything the company was saying even if it wasn't right for your geography or service level," said David Thacker, LinkedIn vice president of products. "The entire experience is now customized by geography and language preference." Additionally, the professional social media platform will help members with personal page feeds adding filters for geography and job function. Helping members weed out information that may not be relevant is important to LinkedIn since it needs its members to keep visiting the site, even when they are not actively looking for jobs. Almost 60 percent of LinkedIn's 300 million members are located outside of the United States and the site is available in 22 different languages including Polish, Korean, Thai and Russian. About 3.5 million companies representing 140 industries use LinkedIn as a communication platform. Companies can maintain a page for free though LinkedIn sells specialized services, including sponsored updates. Thacker said most companies use the pages to highlight new products, promote new initiatives, and as a career page meant for perspective employees. The platform is expanding into an array of employment services including marketing solutions and mobile advertising and has been trying to replicate its success in the U.S. internationally. Earlier this year, it launched a Chinese language test version of its main website. Reuters