Loading ...It had to happen! We have talked about widget apps and the facebook platform on venturewoods before. A pure play facebook app “Where I’ve been” reportedly got acquired for $3m. It might seem like a small amount compared to the billions that make headlines these days, but IMHO its just the starting point — this thing is going to get more momentum.
So what do you think? Is someone calling a beginning of a bubble 
There is an arbitrage here - if you have a smart facebook idea, and can bootstrap it well (remember, very little marketing money required here), this might be your first million bucks!
Facebook is a good way to distribute cheaply.
However (I am going out on a limb here), I find that facebook has not provided a the right way to integrate applications and thus the users stickiness of an application is suspect.
I also feel that Facebook itself is a weak product (way way out on limb), its neither business nor pleasure: blue and stiff with mainly entertainment features.
I follow warren buffet’s commonsense rules, I wouldn’t buy a facebook app for $3M, no matter what anyone says.
The $3m number is already being contested and is apparently based on a single source, that too from the blog of an app developer. Could be true/false and I hope it is false because it is an insane valuation for a product that has little life outside the FB ecosystem, kind of sort of agreeing with RYK on that point, though I don’t agree with the next one.
FB has data modeling that’s amazing, kind of like even brilliant from a tech perspective, the business case for it is still suspect, because any decent quantum of advertising on the platform (other than the banner spots) will lead to its ruin eventually.
http://news.com.com/8301-13577_3-9761584-36.html
Turns out it ain’t so. Darn.
But I like what he says: “We are, however, exploring all avenues to maximize the value and usefulness of our product for our user base and we expect to announce new product features/enhancements,” he explained, “from both internal development and through strategic business partnerships, in the weeks and months ahead.”
The more I think about it the more I realize you could apply this statement to any (product) company anywhere in the world. The generic base class of press releases. (Okay, too much coding has happened)
well, so I cried wolf. However, I think this “will” happen - and I draw lessons from google adwords (substantial lead gen businesses based entirely on google search platform) and secondlife economy. Open application platforms where users spend time is a business ecosystem, and there is value to be created…
I agree. Two acquisitions have already happened - Sidestep taking Extended Info and Slide buying Favourite Peeps. The latter was valued at $60K - a 4.6 cent per user deal.
More power to them. This is a fabulous market if the deal sizes start showing big moves. The limits seem to be about $25 per user for entire SN sites, so perhaps a dollar or so per user for apps?
all are talking about the Facebook platform; if it indeed was true platform, then its apps would be truly valuable. Just like an app for Windows is valuable or for SAP, but the facebook so called platform is far too closed and basic to be a true platform, its not a true platform, but just a slightly better way than myspace for widgets to integrate.
But yes, website can be platforms, but have to be better crafted. They have to allow the applications that run on the platform far more power. The platforms themselves need to be far more powerful working deeper with the browser and the OS. Facebook is not a good platform, but because it’s a step up from myspace people are hailing it as revolutionary. Wait for a few months till some of the serious engineering boys at Google or even at Zoho release their platforms….
IMO facebook is one of hte biggest things to happen to social networking this year. An open social network where people are free to plug in their services is something which has been talked about for quite some time and facebook was the first one to implement it.
Already the hundreds of applications that have sprung up on facebook have made the platform more powerful than any other social network existing right now. To take an example look at iRead (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2406120893) which is one of the bigger applications on facebook and helps share and discover books among friends. How much time do you think it is going to take for any other social network to implement and scale such a detailed piece of functionality inhouse ? ..obviously the speed by which it has seen adoption on facebook clearly shows how useful people find it. And this is just one application among the hundreds.
RYK: I think the word ‘platform’ w.r.t facebook has a slightly different connotation. Typicaly a platform provides apps which runs on it some common capabilities ..for eg. windows provides desktop programs a way to access memory, interfaces, shared devices etc. Similarly the facebook ‘platform’ provides its apps the capability of recognizing people and their social networks which makes each application that much more meaningful.
Every application - be it a matrimonial service, jobs recommendation, social shopping ..makes more sense if it is supplemented by your social network. Facebook does exactly that. In some ways it is like a newer friendlier version of the internet itself.