Inside Facebook
Inside Facebook |
- Facebook Testing Home Page Design That Keeps Ads and Bookmarks Visible as You Scroll
- Another Sign of Facebook’s Latest Interest in the Media Business: Netflix CEO Hastings Joins Board
- Facebook Hires and Departures: Brazil, Interns, Recruiting, Engineering and More
- Facebook Careers Postings: Measurement Research, Legal, Sales, Communication and More
- Facebook Forms Client Ad Council to Seek Advertiser Feedback
| Facebook Testing Home Page Design That Keeps Ads and Bookmarks Visible as You Scroll Posted: 23 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Facebook is testing a new home page design that allows the news feed to be scrolled independently of the rest of the page. This allows ads, app bookmarks, and the top navigation bar to remain visible no matter how many news feed stories a user scrolls through. The tested design, if implemented, could increase click through rates for advertisers, improve user retention for applications, and make the site easier to browse.
As you can see in the image above, a user has scrolled down the news feed, but his top and side navigation bars remain visible. Last week Facebook began testing with a very small number of users a new real-time feed called Happening Now in the right sidebar where Upcoming Events are usually listed. We discussed how this design could extend time on site and draw in users who were just checking their notifications by increasing the frequency with which fresh content appears above the home page’s fold. The latest incarnations of the test, though, show the Most Recent news feed (called “Neueste Meldungen” in the German version of the site, above) as a second segment of the Top News feed. This could come as a shock to users who developed browsing behaviors around the current two-tabbed news feed, but the Facebook home page hasn’t seen a major redesign in 16 months, so it’s about due for an update given Facebook’s fast-paced approach to iterating on products. Benefits for Pages, Advertisers, Developers, and UsersBy piling more stories into the same space rather than hiding them behind the Most Recent tab, Happening Now could boost impressions for Page update stories. This would probably be a welcome change to admins of populars Pages, as statistics indicate Pages with over one million fans receive just 2.79 daily unique news feed impressions per 100 fans. The ability to scroll the main news feed independently of the site’s top and side navigation bars has even bigger implications for the Facebook ecosystem. Currently, once users scroll down past about six news feed stories, they can no longer see ads, bookmarks, and navigation buttons pegged above the fold. The rollout of an independently scrollable news feed would mean ads would receive much more time in front of users per impression. This could increase click through rates, boosting the value of Facebook ads in general and possibly raising average bid prices. Therefore, an implementation of the feature could increase Facebook revenues. Developers would also benefit, as their bookmarks in the left sidebar would be visible to users for longer, encouraging more return visits to games and apps. Facebook has made several changes to the bookmark and request systems this past year which may have hurt app user retention. Facebook could offset drops in retention and virality without endangering the non-gamer user experience by making game bookmarks available as users scroll. Though any major change to the site’s look will be met with a small, grumpy backlash, a scrollable news feed would make it easier to access the news feed publisher, account and privacy settings, and in-house apps like Photos. This could increase the frequency of shares, draw users to Facebook’s most sticky products, and give uses a better sense of control. With benefits for everyone in the pipeline, a scrollable news feed could be a big win for Facebook. |
| Another Sign of Facebook’s Latest Interest in the Media Business: Netflix CEO Hastings Joins Board Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:57 AM PDT
And the latter two companies now have another connection. Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, is joining Facebook’s board of directors. From the statement today: "Facebook is propelling a fundamental change in how people connect with each other and share all kinds of content," said Hastings. "I'm looking forward to working with Mark and the rest of the board to help Facebook take advantage of all the opportunities ahead." This isn’t just about the place each of these companies have in the video market, of course. Hastings is an experienced executive, as well as a Microsoft board member, and it makes sense for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to have someone like him around as the company considers big-company decisions, like going public. But Facebook is also increasing its focus on media, including monetization — something Hastings knows all about. Facebook is reportedly launching a music product that will allow third-party streaming services to reach users. Warner Brothers and other movie and television companies have also been also experimenting with selling content to users in apps, via the Facebook Credits virtual currency. Hastings is also more focused on Facebook. From his interview at AllThingsD earlier this month: Q: Why isn't Netflix social yet? A: It should be. We launched Netflix Friends in 2005. That didn't work. People want to use Facebook. "We're working now to figure out the right integration with Facebook" with proper privacy controls. Think of it as a "five year" plan, at least, to integrate into Facebook, social networks. Facebook and third parties have found good audiences for music and video apps in past years, and we’ve seen culture-specific apps (usually of embeds from elsewhere) made by local developers do well around the world in our AppData tracking service. But licensing issues have helped to slow the natural demand for all types of media that occurs in a social service like Facebook. The Hastings addition could help both companies take advantage of what’s possible with media on Facebook. The press release, below. ——— Facebook Names Reed Hastings to Its Board of Directors Hi – Today Facebook made the following announcement: Facebook Names Reed Hastings to Its Board of Directors PALO ALTO, Calif. – June 23 – Facebook® announced today that Reed Hastings, chairman and chief executive officer of Netflix Inc., has joined the company's board of directors. "Reed is an entrepreneur and technologist who has led Netflix to transform the way people watch movies and TV," said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. "He has built a culture of continuous rapid innovation, something we share and work hard to build every day." "Facebook is propelling a fundamental change in how people connect with each other and share all kinds of content," said Hastings. "I'm looking forward to working with Mark and the rest of the board to help Facebook take advantage of all the opportunities ahead." With more than 23 million members in the U.S. and Canada, Netflix is the world's leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. Hastings founded the company in 1997. Earlier in his career, he founded Pure Atria Software, where he was CEO until the company was acquired by Rational Software Corporation in 1997. Since 2007, Hastings has also been a member of Microsoft Corp.'s board of directors, and is currently lead independent director. He holds an M.S.C.S. degree from Stanford University and a B.A. from Bowdoin College. Hastings is also an active educational philanthropist and board member of many non-profits. He was president of the California State Board of Education from 2000 to 2004. In addition to Zuckerberg, Hastings joins current Facebook board members Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz; Jim Breyer of Accel Partners; Donald E. Graham, chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Company; and Peter Thiel of Clarium Capital and Founders Fund. About Facebook Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. |
| Facebook Hires and Departures: Brazil, Interns, Recruiting, Engineering and More Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:16 AM PDT
New hires per LinkedIn and Other Sources:
Recent departures, per LinkedIn:
Prior listings now removed from the Facebook Careers Page:
Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry. |
| Facebook Careers Postings: Measurement Research, Legal, Sales, Communication and More Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:46 AM PDT
Posts added this week on Facebook's Careers Page:
Jobs posted by Facebook on LinkedIn:
Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry. |
| Facebook Forms Client Ad Council to Seek Advertiser Feedback Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:31 AM PDT
AdAge reported that Facebook hopes to give companies an opportunity to have a say when it comes to new ad offerings, citing as an example the most recent comments ad module. Two of the 12 members include Nick Brien, CEO of McCann Worldgroup and Wendy Clark of Coca-Cola; Everson said the council's members would be finalized in the next two weeks. The council will likely meet four times a year, Everson said in her speech, noting that the meetings will be confidential. And the first meeting is likely to be held at the Association of National Advertisers conference this October, where Facebook will likely take its first steps towards finding out how the platform can better serve its paying customers. [Image via LinkedIn] |
After YouTube, Facebook and Netflix are the second and third favorite online video sites among US users, according to a recent 
Facebook looks to have hired a Global Construction Manager, Commercial Transactions Counsel (New York) and several Partner Engineers, based on listings now removed from its 
The most interesting job Facebook seems itching to fill this week is a post for 
In a keynote address at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Facebook's vice president of global ad sales, Carolyn Everson, | You are subscribed to email updates from Inside Facebook To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |