Japan boasts a highly connected population of savvy web content creators, and one of the densest concentrations of small businesses in the world. Japan is also one of the most pixel dense countries in the world, with digital displays and video advertisements everywhere. Shakr has seen some incredible examples of small and medium businesses making effective video advertisements through our platform.

Despite this, Shakr has decided to un-launch in Japan.

What’s that? Are we retreating with our tails between our legs? Nursing sore wounds from a market entry plan gone wrong? Scaling back our global ambitions?

No, no and no!

Japan is a stellar market for us, and we’re incredibly excited about the opportunities in the land of the rising sun. Video is big in Japan. As a part of our unlaunching initiative, Shakr is partnering with the most visited website in Japan, Yahoo! JAPAN. Moving forward, anyone with their default browser language set to Japanese will be redirected from Shakr to Yahoo! JAPAN Video Creator.

By partnering with Japan’s leading internet company, with businesses spanning video distribution & discover, search, advertising, e-commerce and more, we’ll be able to provide a better user experience with even better templates designed for the local Japanese market. Most importantly, this deal gives us the visibility to reach a greater number of SMBs, at a greater velocity. The faster we can reach more small businesses, the faster Shakr can level the playing field in digital advertising between small businesses and big businesses. The bottom line: Our customers are best served when video creation (Shakr) is combined with the ability to run video ad campaigns.

Will Shakr.com continue to operate?
Yes, we’ve got a long way to go before fulfilling our mission of democratizing video creation. Don’t take my word for it, visit Shakr.com and see for yourself! (Or check out the Public Preview of The New Shakr.) We’re alive and kickin’. The online video advertising world is growing rapidly and is showing no signs of stopping and we take our role in its ongoing growth very seriously. There’s a lot left to be done at Shakr!

What happens if I visit Shakr.com as a Japanese user?
Customers who visit Shakr.com in Japan and international users with their default browser language set to Japanese will be redirected to Yahoo! JAPAN Video Creator.

Does this affect the ownership of Shakr.com?
No, Shakr.com remains an independent privately held company. There has been no change in its majority ownership structure.