LinkedIn is introducing a number of key changes over the week-end.
For the first time in months, the site has been down most of Friday afternoon to deploy a new server infrastructure that will allow the company to scale to the next stage, from the current 3.3M users to at least double that. A new user interface, cleaner and nicer, has also been rolled out.
The most notable change however is the introduction of Business and Business Plus accounts, that will be – yes – subscription-based.
Personal Accounts users will still be able to use LinkedIn for free and register, create their network, and search and send contact requests to third degree connections. 
Four degree contact requests, that were too long and cumbersome to execute anyway, have been removed from the free option.
Users can now search through the entire LinkedIn database – with a new improved Name search, as opposed to just one’s network. Resulting contacts can either be accessed through contact requests (to the third degree), or through InMail – a new functionality that is part of the new Business Account offering. Reid details it in this announcement:
InMail™, a new service available exclusively through LinkedIn, allows you to receive business opportunities from other LinkedIn users directly onto your homepage without sacrificing privacy. You decide whether to receive InMail; you get to rate every InMail you receive to help ensure quality; and you choose when to share your contact information.
InMails are “guaranteed” to succeed within 7 days, meaning that one’s monthly credit will be re-adjusted if a request is not responded to in this timeframe. Furthermore, it is possible to choose whether inMails are to be received as they come, or once a week.
Business and Business Plus accounts are targeting professionals like recruiters, investors, consultants, analysts,… who leverage LinkedIn the most to search for references, candidates, or experts. Each level of subscription will have a set number of InMail and contact requests, and access to a new set of tools that will be introduced shortly.
Pricing of these accounts are:
- Business: $45 for 3 months, $150 for 1 year – providing 3 inMails and 10 active introductions (contact requests)
- Business Plus: $150 for 3 months, $500 for 1 year – providing 10 inMails and 25 active introductions
This latest move clarifies the LinkedIn business value proposition, and gets it closer to being a data provider, exposing user profiles whilst maintaining a certain level of privacy – since only profiles are available for contacts beyond the 3rd degree, not names.
Disclosure: I have no commercial or investment reliationship with LinkedIn, but I have a number of friends involved in the company, as executives, investors or advisors.