“Facebook Inc unveiled a new hub for consumers to find games and other apps on the social network, including its first storefront for selling paid apps, in the company’s latest effort to expand the ways its makes money from its massive audience,” Alexei Oreskovic reports for Reuters. “The new App Center, which Facebook said will launch in the next few weeks, comes as the company is preparing an initial public offering that would value the company between $77 billion and $96 billion. A key concern for investors is Facebook’s slowing revenue growth, due in part to the widening trend of consumers accessing its service on smartphones, where Facebook provides limited ads.”
Oreskovic reports, “The App Center will, for the first time, allow software developers to sell apps to consumers directly on Facebook. Consumers will need to use Facebook Credits, the company’s payment system, to purchase the apps and Facebook will take a 30 percent cut of the revenue as it does with in-app purchases, said Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich.”
“The App Center will feature apps that designed for PCs as well as for mobile devices such as Apple Inc iPhones and Android smartphones. If a mobile app requires installation for the mobile device, Facebook said it will direct users to Apple’s App Store or Google Inc’s Play store to download the app,” Oreskovic reports. “The App Center will showcase apps based on the quality scores that users give apps and other data Facebook collects, such as how often and how long people use apps. Each user will see a different, customized version of the App Center, rather than one standard version of the App Center.”
Read more in the full article here.
It’s getting so there’s no room left for your “face” on FaceBook. Every time you click on something it insists on populating your timeline with crap. Yeah, I liked a song, that doesn’t mean that I want you to post news about ever song I click on for the rest of my life. Someone else posts a video. You click to watch the video, but nooooo…. some app wants access to your friends and all your public information before you can watch the video. It’s become the most god awful craptastic experience in social media and now they want to sell apps? Please.
This. Entirely.
I find myself never clicking on anything but photos because it usually just leads to some app wanting access to all of my information and friends so it can spam them saying I’ve invited them to the app. The big one I’ve seen lately is SocialCam.
Facebook needs a strict set of guidelines so 3rd party app makers don’t have free reign destroy user experience and spam everyone.
Oh god. That SocialCam crap is all over my timeline now.
If Facebook hasn’t already started their decline, then this 3rd party app nonsense littering my feed will definitely be the cause of it.
but then Z-man couldn’t buy 3 trillion hoodies.
I think there are a lot of people who are about to migrate away from Facebook for good. It’s turned into just another walled garden around a portion of the internet. It follows the “famous for being famous” model. People go there because people go there. I think Yogi Berra’s line will soon apply: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
Don’t like craptastic? Talk to the Hoodie!
I don’t like Facebook. It is intrusive. With Apple, I am the customer. Who is the Facebook customer? Not me!
Ssshhhh! You’ll be giving them ideas. Next will be “Facebook Premium”, where you will pay NOT to be bombarded with crap.
Yes a service you sign up for and willing contribute to is intrusive!
If they start selling apps then I’d say they are trying to make the users the customer to some degree!
I won’t be letting Facebook have access to my credit card details. No way no how!
FB is the biggest invasion of ………….. Fill in the space!
So is possible App Center income a way to juice the IPO price?
So if you buy an iOS app through facebook they will charge 30% and then Apple will charge 30%? That’s hilarious.