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Inside Facebook

Announcing Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011

Posted: 31 May 2011 06:30 PM PDT

If 2010 is remembered as the year that games on social networks became a billion dollar business, 2011 is quickly becoming the year that the industry is starting to mature. Facebook is mandating Credits effective July 1st, creating massive changes in the monetization ecosystem, last year’s hit games are fighting for their lives, and new developers and games are climbing the leaderboards. At the same time, larger players are consolidating smaller studios and teams, and large media companies and traditional game developers continue to plot their social gaming strategies.

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That’s why we’re excited to announce today a new original study in our Inside Virtual Goods series by co-authors Justin Smith and Charles Hudson that is exclusively focused on spending and usage patterns in the social gaming market, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011. The second annual installment of this report, it will be released on Tuesday, June 14, but is available for discount pre-order now.

Most of the studies on player spending and usage patterns in social games over the last year have actually been conducted by industry vendors. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 is our exclusive independent look at the virtual goods spending and behavior patterns of social game players on Facebook — data you won’t find anywhere else.

About the Report

Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 gives you an inside view of the market at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games.

We have surveyed nearly 2,000 players of social games on Facebook from around the world and across the demographic spectrum. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 is the most in-depth independent survey of player behavior and spending patterns in the social gaming market.

What We Cover

  1. Spending Habits and Payment Methods in Top Games – It’s easy to compare games based on audience numbers, but which games monetize better? What payment methods do players use most often in top games? How is the shift to Credits affecting player behavior? We investigate how spending patterns compare across top social games.
  2. Frequency of Play and Methods of Game Discovery - As Facebook has cut down on developer access to viral channels, designing an engaging and viral game is becoming both increasingly important and challenging. We investigate which games people play most frequently, and which methods of social game discovery are most effective for top games.
  3. Demographic Differences by Region, Age, and Gender – While the social gaming market is increasingly global, the audience is also becoming increasingly diverse by age and gender. How do different segments of the audience differ in terms of spending and usage patterns inside social games? We take an in depth look.
  4. Brand Recall for Social Games – How important are brands, and how well can users identify developers of top games? We investigate brand recall amongst social game players.

See the full table of contents below:

Table of Contents

I. Methodology and Respondents

1. Introduction
  • About Inside Virtual Goods
  • About the Authors
  • Survey Objectives
2. Research Methodology
  • Target Population
  • Respondent Acquisition Method
  • Survey Structure
  • Potential for Bias
3. Survey Respondents
  • Description of Total Respondent Population
  • Total Number of Respondents
  • Overall Breakdown

II. Overall Results

4. Favorite Game
  • Distribution of Favorite Game
  • Frequency of Play
  • Favorite Game Discovery
  • With Whom Do You Play?
  • Spending on Favorite Game
5. Payments
  • Consumer Perception of Facebook Credits
  • Frequency of Payment Methods
6. Play Patterns, Spending, and Brand Recall for Top Games
  • Frequency of Play in Top Games
  • Spending in Top Games
  • Aided Brand Recall for Top Games

7. Mobile Platform and Game Adoption by Social Game Players

III. Demographic Differences in Usage Patterns and Monetization

8. Age and Gender Differences
  • Who are the Social Gaming “Whales”?
  • Spend Across Games
  • Trends in Favorite Games by Age and Gender
  • Analyzing the Top Two Games
  • How Do Midcore Games Compare?

9. Regional Differences

  • Game Discovery and Spending
  • Favorite Game
  • Payment Types

Appendix

  • Survey Questions

More Data, More Actionable Insights

In 2009 and 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 as the industry continues to mature.

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

Get The Annual Membership

Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD*


OR Buy Single Report: $995 $795 USD*

* Pre-order discount ends June 13, 2011. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on June 14, 2011.

Although the report will not be released until next Tuesday, June 14, we are offering a special pre-order discount for those who purchase now. A one year subscription is $1,995 until June 14, at which point the price will go to US $2,495. The one year subscription includes three quarterly updates on key developments in the space, including future editions of our annual reports, Inside Virtual Goods: The US Virtual Goods Market 2010-2011 and Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011.

Or, you can download just this report. The pre-order price is $795 until June 14, at which point the price will go to US $995.

About the Authors

justin-smith-headshotJustin Smith

Founder, Inside Network

Justin Smith is the founder of Inside Network, the first service dedicated to providing news and market research to the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem. Justin leads Inside Network’s analyst services, manages Inside Network’s AppData service, and serves as co-editor of Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games. Inside Network was acquired by WebMediaBrands (NASDAQ:WEBM) in May 2011.

Prior to Inside Network, he was Head of Product at Watercooler, now Kabam, a leading social game developer 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, where he was a Mayfield Fellow and a recipient of the Terman Award in Engineering.

charles-hudson-headshotCharles Hudson

Venture Partner, SoftTech VC, CEO and Co-Founder, Bionic Panda Games

Charles Hudson is a Venture Partner with SoftTech VC and the CEO and Co-Founder of Bionic Panda Games, a mobile games company based in San Francisco, CA.

Until February 2010, he was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business, a leading producer of social games. Zynga acquired Serious Business in February of 2010. Prior to Serious Business, Hudson worked at Gaia Interactive, Google, IronPort Systems, and In-Q-Tel. Hudson also founded Third Power LLC, a conference and events company that was acquired by WebMediaBrands. Charles holds an MBA and BA from Stanford University.

Shakira, Beyoncé Linkin Park, YouTube, The Simpsons and Coca-Cola on This Week’s Top 20 Growing Facebook Pages

Posted: 31 May 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Music Pages just about took over our list of top 20 growing Facebook Pages this week, occupying 12 of the 20 slots. The remainder of the list included YouTube and Facebook, a few TV shows, Harry Potter, Cristiano Ronaldo and Coca-Cola. The Pages on our list grew from between 1 million and 2.4 million Likes, we measure the growth of Pages with our PageData tool.

Top Gainers This Week

Name Likes Gain Gain,%
1. YouTube 36,335,231 +2,437,371 +7%
2. Facebook 43,385,322 +2,249,789 +5%
3. Shakira 31,709,723 +1,910,576 +6%
4. Rihanna 35,369,725 +1,864,514 +6%
5. Eminem 38,421,560 +1,789,255 +5%
6. The Simpsons 28,449,683 +1,652,544 +6%
7. Lady Gaga 36,330,897 +1,524,035 +4%
8. Katy Perry 26,620,056 +1,512,412 +6%
9. Coca-Cola 28,776,669 +1,509,262 +6%
10. Beyoncé 22,357,915 +1,422,326 +7%
11. South Park 28,444,691 +1,326,110 +5%
12. Family Guy 31,902,867 +1,290,165 +4%
13. AKON 23,996,778 +1,249,427 +5%
14. Usher 19,573,724 +1,208,733 +7%
15. Black Eyed Peas 19,333,205 +1,129,260 +6%
16. Avril Lavigne 20,577,148 +1,109,198 +6%
17. Lil Wayne 25,695,689 +1,058,421 +4%
18. Linkin Park 29,118,054 +1,051,655 +4%
19. Cristiano Ronaldo 27,436,242 +1,042,969 +4%
20. Harry Potter 24,965,738 +1,033,571 +4%

YouTube grew by 2.4 million Likes to 36.3 million and Facebook by 2.2 million to reach 43.3 million, the pair of Pages occupied the one, and two, slots respectively on our list this week. Elsewhere on the list was Coca-Cola with a respectable 1.5 million new Likes to add to its 28.7 million; the Page features a landing tab encouraging visitors to Like the Page and frequent product-related status updates. Portuguese football (soccer) star Cristiano Ronaldo added more than 1 million Likes to his Page. totaling out at 27.4 million, talking about his professional experiences and threatening to sue media outlets for publishing photos of his son.

The only other non-music Pages on the list were TV shows and a movie. "The Simpsons" grew by 1.6 million Likes this week to 28.4 million partly because the Page involved fans in an intrigue as to whether or not two long-time characters should become a couple. "South Park" created an event for its most recent episode, which generated thousands of replies and comments; the Page grew by 1.3 million Likes to hit 28.4 million. "Family Guy" grew by just under that by just promoting the show to 31.9 million. The "Harry Potter" Page has begun a countdown to the release of the next film, supplementing the suspense with new posters and trailers; the Page added more than 1million Likes to reach 24.9 million.

The rest of the list was comprised of music Pages. A quick note, it becomes rarer and rarer not to see a musician's Page that does not incorporate one or both of popular music apps:  BandPage by RootMusic or VEVO for Artists; the Pages below are no exception.

Shakira's Page grew by 1.9 million Likes to 31.7 million; she's promoting her album and releasing personalized Facebook vlogs. Rihanna was close behind with 1.8 million new Likes; she's also promoting her songs and related products to her 35.3 million fans. Eminem's Page grew by 1.7 million Likes to 38.4 million; he's been promoting his album and singles with frequent updates. Lady Gaga was all over Facebook this week, resulting in 1.5 million new Likes, as she promotes her new album and its singles to her 36.3 million fans.

Katy Perry added 1.5 million Likes by promoting her album and related tour to 26.6 million. Beyoncé just released a single and is promoting her upcoming album, performed on "American Idol" and recruited 1.4 million new Likes this week to total out at 22.3 million. Akon's 1.2 million new Likes may have resulted from his very frequent status updates and his fanbase now totals 23.9 million. Usher is currently promoting his tour and media appearances to the tune of 1.2 million new Likes to his 19.5 million fans. The Black Eyed Peas did pretty much the same thing, ending the week with 1.1 million new Likes and a total of 19.3 million.

Avril Lavigne added 1.1 million Likes to her 20.5 million total by promoting her new single on a landing tab. Lil Wayne grew his Page by more than 1 million Likes to 25.6 by updating his status frequently. Finally, Linkin Park's million-plus new likes pushed the Page past 29.1 million as the band offered fans the chance to a free concert or place at the "Transformers" movie premiere.

New Facebook Platform Industry Hires: Deal United, Shoutlet, Votigo and More

Posted: 31 May 2011 08:01 AM PDT

Deal United hired a Munich-based Head of Finance, Syncapse hired a Global Head of Human Resources and Votigo brought on a VP of Business Development this week. Other hires ranged form social media management and customer support to graphic designers.

If your company is hiring new people or making a notable promotion, please let us know. Email mail (at) insidefacebook (dot) com, and we'll get it into next week's post. Also, please note that information about most new hires, below, comes directly from company updates from LinkedIn.

Looking for new opportunities? Check out the Inside Network Job Board, which shows the latest openings at leading companies in the industry.

Here's this week's list of hires:

AdParlor

Sean Stone, Account Manager – formerly a Social Media Manager at HealthGenie.ca.

Deal United

Torsten Kiedel, Head of Finance in Munich, Germany - formerly the Corporate Risk Management Advisor for the BMW Group.

Efficient Frontier

Santhosh Chandrasekharan, Associate QA Engineer – previously a student at the Vellore Institute of Technology.

Involver

Heather Collins, Customer Success Manager - formerly a middle school teacher at Palo Alto Unified School District.

Shoutlet

Charles Guevara, Senior Business Development Manager – previously a Vice President of Sales at Trunity.

Gabriel Lilly, Customer Support Representative – formerly a student at the University of Wisconsin.

Michelle Mohr, Senior Business Development Manager – previously worked as a National Sales Manager at Questex Media Group.

Spencer Thiel, Development Lead – formerly Reporting Support Engineer at Epic Systems.

Paul Velleux, Graphic Designer – formerly Web Designer at LeMans Corporation.

Social Envi

Matt Sinnott, Community Manager – formerly a Community Manager at Apple.

Syncapse

David Wexler, SVP & Global Head of Human Resources – previously worked as a Senior Director of HR & Head of HR for EA Sports Canada at Electronic Arts.

Votigo

Mark Hodson, VP Business Development - formerly worked in business development at West Coast LiveWorld, Inc.

onsdag den 1. juni 2011 at 07.41