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Inside Facebook

Facebook’s Engineer-Recruiter Effort Helps Land Another Acquisition: Walletin

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 04:52 PM PST

Facebook has acquired stealth startup Walletin and hired its founders Cory Ondrejka and Bruce Rogers. Ondrejka was the first chief technology officer of Linden Lab, developers of Second Life. Unlike the social network’s recent purchases of Divvyshot, ShareGrove, and Hot Potato which were explicitly talent acquisitions, Facebook has stated that it “reached an agreement to acquire the assets of Walletin”, meaning the secret product the duo was working on could be integrated into Facebook.

In a post to his personal blog, Ondrejka explains the circumstance in which they accepted Facebook’s undisclosed offer:

“When we met with Facebook…we met our people. Engineers focused on getting sh*t done. Moreover they recognized the disruption we were betting on and saw how far we could run with it at Facebook. And they moved like they were still a startup…the more we learned about Facebook, the more we saw our ideas fitting in.”

The story highlights an emerging trend of Facebook using its engineers as recruiters to attract top established talent from startups as well as students from prestigious engineering schools. Instead of relying on promises of flashy perks like personal assistants, or high acquisition payouts, Facebook touts the benefits of working on a project with global impact without the stifling bureaucracy common at larger tech companies. This is a value proposition which magnifies over time as more great engineers join the company.

The key to Facebook’s long term future success will be maintaining the quality of its team as it rapidly grows. To do this, it will need its internal communication team to keep the company seeming personal and cohesive, and managers who can prevent busywork from reaching engineers. Keeping its own engineering team happy could prove Facebook’s greatest recruiting tool.

Safeway, GameStop and RadioShack Also Get Facebook Credits Gift Cards

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 02:11 PM PST

The retail roll-out of Facebook Credits gift cards is continuing today, with the company announcing their availability in three more chains: Safeway, GameStop and RadioShack. The timing suggests that Facebook wants these cards all over the place before the holiday season gets underway, and people start looking for gifts that their social game-obsessed friends and relatives will appreciate.

For those not familiar, the cards allow you to buy Credits in $15, $25 and $50 increments. Scratch off the back of the card to get a unique secret code, then enter it in the card section of the main Credits purchase interface on the site, and your account will gain the amount the card is worth.

Following the efforts of social gaming companies, and other digital entertainment providers before them, Facebook began introducing the cards in early September of this year – Target was the first retailer to get the currency, Best Buy and Walmart followed late last month. You can find the nearest stores carrying Credits here.

Beyond serving as gifts, the cards also allow people without access to credit cards or other online payment options (especially teens) instead buy Credits using cash. The point is to help increase the volume of Credits on the platform — a larger effort the company has had going for months.

Until the past year, developers with canvas Facebook applications deployed their own currencies. Facebook has slowly been requiring all of them to transition to Credits, though, and at this point most large and mid-sized developers have moved over or are in the process of doing so. While the company takes a 30% cut of Credits revenue, it thinks that between its brand, the integration of Credits within the core site features, the increasing number of payment options (like the gift cards) can together combine to make the currency more lucrative for developers.

Facebook Connect Appears as Sign-Up Option in MySpace Redesign

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 12:27 PM PST

As part of its big new site redesign, MySpace has introduced a new Facebook integration that is supposed to let you sign up for MySpace using Facebook Connect. The feature isn’t currently working — you click on the Login with Facebook button, give MySpace extended permissions to access Facebook data, and then nothing happens. But the fact that Connect is here is the latest sign of the News Corp. company’s self-described move away from being a social network to being an entertainment site that relies on its multiple social networks to engage users.

Sources told us last fall that we should expect to see Facebook “everywhere” on MySpace this year, and until now that hadn’t really happened. There was a video application made by a partner in the UK back in January, that happened to use Connect. More significantly, MySpace began letting its users syndicate their status updates to Facebook at the end of this past August — that integration has led to 66,472 daily active users and 490,000 monthly active users as of today, according to our AppData tracking service.

The Facebook Connect option is currently  buried off the main page, within the "Sign up" page; you’ll see it on the right-hand side once you click through.

The details of what we’re seeing: Once you enter your Facebook login information and allow MySpace permission to your data anytime, your email, etc., you don't seem to be logged into MySpace. We tried different browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Safari — to no avail. Facebook Connecting on MySpace.com logs you into Facebook, but not MySpace, and you still have to manually log into MySpace.

We’ll update this article with more details once the feature works.

Facebook Confirms Talent Acquisition of Three Zenbe Employees

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 12:10 PM PST

Facebook confirmed that it hired three employees from messaging startup Zenbe in a small talent acquisition. They were part of the team working on the new Messages product Facebook launched yesterday, according to Zenbe.

Yesterday, the social network overhauled its private, one-to-one messaging system, re-imagining Facebook as a central hub of informal, social communications through e-mail, text and chat.

Zenbe, a New York-based startup, was known for experimenting with new forms of collaborative communication. Last year, the startup launched a product called Shareflow, which lets users see a flow of communication around specific topics.

“A few months ago, three of our engineers joined Facebook as part of a talent acquisition,” Zenbe said in a statement on its blog. “We believe that messaging and collaboration on the web are on the cusp of a new wave of innovation, and we’re excited to be playing a role in that.”

While there had been ongoing discussions for years about how to revamp Messages, efforts began in earnest earlier this year as the company began assembling a 15-person engineering team — the biggest ever involved in a single project.

In-Depth Review: Facebook’s New Message Inbox Product

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 10:45 AM PST

Yesterday, Facebook launched its new Messages product, allowing users to see their communication with someone over email, Facebook Messages, Facebook Chat, instant messages, and SMS in the same thread. Facebook automatically delivers messages where it thinks a user is most likely to see them, creates a unified history of the messages, and filters the threads by relationship with the sender to create a Social Inbox.

Here’s a closer look at exactly how the new Messages product works:

Setting Up Messages

Facebook will be rolling out access to the new features over the next several months. Members of the press have been set up with accounts, and can invite two friends each using the multi-friend selector. These invites are not delivered immediately, though, and instead put the recipient near the top of the queue for the roll out.

When a user gains access to the new Messages product, they’ll see a prompt at the top of their home page. From there, they’re directed to claim their new [public username]@facebook.com email address. Emails from friends and friends of friends are routed to their primary Messages folder, while emails from other senders are filtered into the Other Messages folder. Users can still change their privacy settings to prevent non-friends from sending them messages. Emails from anyone who isn’t authorized by this settings are not delivered, and no bounce message is returned.

Next, users are asked to connect their mobile phone to their Facebook account “so friends can use Messages to send you texts”. In the same way that users have activated Facebook for mobile through Account Settings, users get a confirmation code texted to them, which they enter online to confirm their phone number. Lastly, users are asked to go online through  Facebook Chat to receive Messages over this medium as well.

The Social Inbox

Once set up, users will see that they now have two folders. The “Messages” folder defaults to hold all of a user’s Messages with friends or friends of friends. “Other Messages” holds Messages with those who aren’t connected to a user, Page updates, Event messages, and messages from old groups. When a user has new Messages, they’ll see counters next to the Messages navigation links in the Facebook home page’s left sidebar.

Users can move conversations between folders to increase or decrease their visibility. Messages from friends of friends display how a user is connected to the sender.

Each thread has a radio button next to it allowing users to toggle it between read and unread. Within each thread, the medium from which a Message was sent is denoted with icons for email or chat. At the bottom of the inbox, users see options to view their Archive or Junk, to which Messages can be assigned to reduce clutter. Users also have the option to permanently delete conversations.

Sending and Receiving Messages

When a user sends a Message, Facebook processes several signals to determine which medium to route it to. If the recipient is actively online on Facebook they’ll receive the Message as a Chat. If the Message is a reply to an email, it will be sent to email. Users can check a box next to the reply field to purposefully send a text message. Regardless of the delivery medium, all Messages appear in the inbox in a thread with the recipient, creating a history of the conversation. This is the first time Facebook has offered users a record of their Facebook Chat, and this functionality could pull users away from GChat, which many people use for its instant message log.

If a user opens a Facebook Chat, the last few Messages from the thread are displayed in the Chat window for context. When users receive email from Messages, the previous few Messages in the thread are included with the new Message.

When replying to a Message, users can toggle a checkbox to use Quick Reply mode, in which hitting ENTER sends the reply, similar to instant messaging. Facebook has integrated user requests for a forward button, allowing users to add people to conversations. Users can upload multiple attachments, including photos, or take a single photo with their webcam. Users must download attachments to view them, unless they are Microsoft Office documents, such as .doc or .xls files, in which case users can follow a link to Office.com where they can see a preview.

How Messages Will Change Communication

The new Messages product will not immediately disrupt the institution of email. Information which only comes in that medium, and which rarely requires interaction a human, such as bank statements or newsletters, is best kept within one’s email inbox. Exchanges in which users share lots of attachments, especially in formats other than Microsoft Office’s, will benefit from in-line previews and mass downloading offered by established email services.

Over time, however, social conversations may be pulled into Facebook. If a conversation naturally occurs across mobile, synchronous, and asynchronous mediums, such as day-to-day exchanges with a friend, using a system which automatically optimizes for immediacy will make the exchange easier. Once part of a conversation occurs through Facebook Chat or private messages, email and text messages will soon feed back to the Social Inbox. Having a centralized, persistent record of the distributed conversation will also make Messages useful for organizing groups, perhaps better than Facebook’s Groups product which doesn’t encompass SMS or record Group Chat.

While the aggregation of additional mediums is useful, Facebook has also solved the biggest problem with its old Messages product. By filtering Messages according the user’s relationship with the sender, users will no longer lose an important one-to-one conversation amongst low-content Event messages, broadcasted Page updates, and other noise. When a user visits their main Messages folder, they’ll only see active conversations with the people they choose. By making it so easy to continue the conversation, Messages will keep us in direct contact as effectively as the news feed keeps us in indirect contact.

Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011, Is Here

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 09:00 AM PST

2010 will be remembered as the year that games on social networks became a billion dollar business and transformed the way millions more people socialized with friends online. With an up-to-$750 million acquisition of Playdom by Disney, Playfish’s integration across Electronic Arts, the continued growth of Zynga, the rise of CrowdStar and Kabam, and continued venture investments, social games are impacting businesses across the media landscape. Despite the challenges facing the market, it's become clear that there are still substantial opportunities for social game developers with virtual goods revenue models, but the market is still evolving rapidly.

Get the Annual Membership

Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495

OR Buy Single Report: $995

Inside Network is proud to announce the release today of a new original research report by Justin Smith and Charles Hudson that is exclusively focused on the future of the social gaming market, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011. This is Inside Network's second annual edition of the Future of Social Gaming report. The big picture? The social gaming market will reach $1.25 billion overall in 2011.

Where will social gaming go in 2011? How will existing players fare as Facebook shifts the social gaming landscape through the rollout of Facebook Credits and continued changes to the platform? Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011 provides deeper insight into social game monetization, development, customer acquisition, and the key questions facing the space in 2011 than you'll find anywhere else.

About the Report

Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011 gives you an inside view of the future at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games.

We have compiled months of original research from dozens of top executives and entrepreneurs from all parts of the social gaming ecosystem to produce eye-opening source data and analysis that is not available anywhere else. Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011 takes the closest look at the present state of social games and the future of this strong but still rapidly changing industry.

What We Cover

  1. Social Game Development and Studio Models – There is an emerging consensus around how social game developers are choosing to organize themselves for game development. How do small, medium, and large developers organize their teams? What do development cycle times for original titles and "expansion packs" look like? What is the role of testing and metrics in the development process?
  2. Social Game Design and Mechanics – The emergence of a few key game genres with proven mechanics and monetization have spawned dozens of fast followers. Understand how publishers are continuing to innovate as we head into 2011.
  3. Monetization Data and Payment Trends – Now that developers have proven the virtual goods model, what are ARPUs, ARPPUs, and LTVs really like for different game genres? What is the lifetime value of users, and how long do players stick around? We take an in depth look at monetization methods and rates, and shed light on where payments are headed in the coming quarters. One more note on monetization – you may be wondering about everything you've heard about the rollout of Facebook Credits. We cover:
    • Both the goals and benefits, and challenges and costs, of Facebook Credits for developers
    • Changes that developers have – and haven't – made
    • How the rollout of Facebook Credits will affect the payments ecosystem (looking at both direct and alternativee payment methods globally)
  4. Customer Acquisition and Marketing Trends – As the social gaming landscape has evolved over the past three and a half years, so have the ways that developers acquire and retain new users. How have user acquisition costs changed, and what do Facebook's changes spell for the future of the marketing funnel? We take an in depth look at data and trends.
  5. Facebook's Platform Changes, Credits, and What's In Store for the Future – Facebook has continued to change Platform communication channels and functionality over the last year, significantly altering the way social games reach users through Facebook. Continued change is likely – what will it be, and how will it impact the industry? In addition, as Facebook rolls out its much-discussed Credits currency, how will monetization and the payments landscape be affected? Finally, will we see another dominant platform emerge? Our overview covers these developments, their impact on the industry, and what else is in store.

What you get

In addition to our deep dive into key aspects of the social gaming ecosystem, the report also offers extended coverage on:

  • A brief history on the evolution and growth of this space in the US, including a description of all key players and how they rose to the top.
  • Total social gaming market size estimates for 2011, including estimates on the "big four" developers.
  • Our take on the key issues facing the growth of social gaming, including our outlook and projections for 2011.

See the full table of contents below:

Table of Contents








More Data, More Actionable Insights

In 2010, social games began to show what kind of value can be created on top of social networks. 2011 will be an even more important year.

Social gaming, powered by virtual goods, is this year's industry to watch. If you're involved, or are considering jumping in, Inside Virtual Goods will be one of your most important tools.

One year of original data and exclusive in-depth reports delivered on a quarterly basis is $2,495 and contains:

  • A detailed overview of the current state of the industry
  • Specific estimates on market size by segment
  • Diagnosis of key opportunities and issues by segment

About the Authorsjustin-smith-headshot

Justin Smith

Founder, Inside Network

Justin Smith is the founder of Inside Network, the first company dedicated to providing news and market research to the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem. Justin leads Inside Network's Inside Virtual Goods and AppData research and data services, and serves as co-editor ofInside Facebook and Inside Social Games.

Prior to Inside Network, he was formerly Head of Product at Watercooler, one of the leading application and game developers on the Facebook Platform. Prior to Watercooler, Justin was an early employee at Xfire, the largest social utility for gamers, which was sold to Viacom in 2006. Justin holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University.


charles-hudson-headshotCharles Hudson

Former VP Business Development, Serious Business

Charles Hudson is the former VP of Business Development for Serious Business, a leading social games developer on the Facebook platform.

Prior to Serious Business, he was formerly the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, a leading online hangout for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007. Charles holds an MBA and BA from Stanford University.

Get The Annual Membership

Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495

OR Buy Single Report: $995

The one year subscription includes three quarterly updates on key developments in the space. Or, you can download just this report.

Company Index: 50 Cubes, 51.com, 6waves, A Bit Lucky, Activision, AdNector, AdParlor, Aeria Games, Amazon, Aol, Apple, Applifier, Appstrip, Arkadium, Atari, Aurora Feint, Bebo, BigFish Games, Bigpoint, Blackhawk, Boku, Booyah, Boyaa, Broken Bulb Studios, Café.com, Casual Collective, Cie Games, CrowdStar, DeNA, Digital Chocolate, Digital Sky Technologies, Disney, Electronic Arts, ELEX, Facebook, Five Minutes, Friendster, Funzio, Gambit, GameDuell, GameHouse, Gameloft, Glu, GMG Entertainment, Google, Gree, GSN, gWallet, Happy Elements, HeyZap, Hi5, InComm, iWin, Kabam, Kaixin001, Kongregate, Kontagent, LOLapps, Metrogames, Microsoft, MindJolt, Mixi, MSN, MySpace, News Corporation, Nexon, ngmoco, Nintendo, OMGPOP, Orkut, Papaya Mobile,PaymentPin, PayPal, Peanut Labs, Playdom, Playfirst, Playfish, PlaySpan, Pogo, PopCap Games, QZone, Real Networks, Rekoo, RenRen / Xiaonei, Rixty, RockYou!, Scoreloop, SGN, Shanda, Slashkey, Slide, SocialGold, Sometrics, Sony, SponsorPay, Summerlight, Super Rewards (Adknowledge), SupersonicAds, Target, Tencent, The9, TheBroth, TokenAds, TrialPay, Twitter, Viacom, Viximo, VKontakte, Wooga, Yahoo, ZipZapPlay, Zong, Zynga

Chit Chat Provides a Fuller-Featured Desktop Client for Facebook Chat

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 08:47 AM PST

Chit ChatThe Facebook Chat system has never really felt as robust as many of the standalone instant messaging systems such as Yahoo! or Windows Live Messenger. However, with so many users connected to Facebook, it's certainly something that's been made use of with Facebook Connect on ICQ or instant messaging clients such as Pidgin. And, actually, Windows Live Messenger has also turned into a hit with users lately.

Well, here's another option from a small UK startup by the name of Chit Chat.

Its product of the same name is a quick and lightweight downloadable Windows app that lets you use Facebook Chat in a more traditional IM interface. Automatically filling the friends list with everyone befriended on Facebook when you log in using Connect, it provides a windowed means to chat with friends online without having to be on Facebook.com itself.

The application has a few features beyond Chat as well, that are more typical of most other IM programs. This includes access to emoticons within the chat, status alerts, and the all-important ability to save your chat history. It also allows for small amount of text formatting in forms of color, size, boldness, and so on. As it stands, however, there is no window customization as with programs such as Windows Live. Still, there is some minor sound customization when it comes to alerts and notifications (e.g. friends signing in).

Wall PostingIn line with the Facebook connectivity, Chit Chat also has quick access to everyone's Facebook Walls. Directly from the program, users can not only post and update their status, but are also able to make Wall postings to anyone on their friends list. Also, there is a "music status" icon by the status updates as well as options in the app preferences, but there isn't any clear indication (on the website or otherwise) as to what it is for. That said, it actually will post status updates based on whatever music the user is currently listening to. The update is a little delayed, however.

There are really no significant issues with the Chit Chat app, but it does have a few minor qualms. One of the nice things about windowed chat, is that users can alt tab through them. Unfortunately, Chit Chat puts all conversations in a single window with tabs within it (tabs in Firefox or Internet Explorer). This isn't a bad thing, but it would be nice to have the option to make them all independent windows. Additionally, it is a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to online/offline updates. A couple of times, it wasn't until we sent a message from another account to the Chit Chat user that it went recognized that person as online. Even so, it's an extremely minor issue, as it does, eventually, update.

Overall, Chit Chat is another IM option for Facebook users that utilize the network for all their social communication. It isn't as sophisticated as some of the stand-alone programs out there, but it gets the job done and is far more convenient than Facebook Chat itself. That in mind, it's another decent, and free, option for users to download and try.

onsdag den 17. november 2010 at 07.37