Leave a Comment

Facebook Indefinitely Postpones Payments System -- Smart
Silicon Alley Insider — ... 'We've been excited by advertising and payments solutions provided by the market, and we currently do not have anything to share around a Facebook Payments system at this time," a Facebook rep told Inside Facebook. ...

Why Facebook Opted for Platform Growth Over Platform Monetization in 2008
Inside Facebook — ... Yesterday, there was a lot of discussion after we noted that Facebook has not launched the Platform payments system that was announced over one year ago. (The post was updated to clarify that Facebook has not made any new announcements regarding the future of the program; the payments system has just been apparently deprioritized while Facebook focuses on other initiatives.) In the comments of yesterday’s post, Dave McClure laid out an ...

Top 5 Facebook Predictions for 2009
All Facebook — ... This is one of those never ending rumors. Dave Morin previously stated that Facebook would eventually launch a payment system at the Graphing Social Patterns conference but since then the company has been silent. There were rumors floating around that the company had internal conflict about whether or not to launch the service. Justin Smith suggested that the payment system was postponed indefinitely. Yesterday I argued that the company needs to launch one sooner rather than later. ...

iPhone, MySpace, Facebook Race To Micropayments In 2009
TechCrunch — ... Facebook applications that have found a way around the problem by using third party payment services. Spare Change (powered by PayPal), Social Gold, Zong and other services let users move cash into the system, and applications like Mob Wars have gathered as much as $1 million per month from micropayments. All three services have promised that direct micropayments are coming. Facebook promised the product would be released by September, but it never came and it is clearly on the back burner for now. MySpace announced their product in November 2008, ...

Facebook Starts Alpha Testing In-House Platform Ad Network
Inside Facebook — Facebook focused on Platform growth over Platform monetization in 2008: the company largely focused on launching the profile redesign and Facebook Connect instead of other monetization initiatives. However, it looks like 2009 may be the year Facebook starts ramping up its monetization efforts: today, Facebook announced that it has started testing an in-house ad network with developers. According to the company, Starting today you may notice a few applications occasionally serving Facebook Ads directly in their canvas pages as ...

Facebook Considering Virtual Currency System?
Inside Facebook — Facebook’s Gareth Davis said at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco yesterday that the company is “looking at” a virtual currency system of its own, according to the LA Times. However, as both the LA Times and CNET commentary suggests, it may be a little premature to assume what that means exactly, given that the company has been “looking at” doing a Platform payment system since late 2007 that has yet to launch. Universal virtual currency, however, could make a lot of sense for Facebook, especially given the recent ...

Facebook Platform Payment Providers Report Strong Growth in Q1
Inside Facebook — ... While the company is certainly evaluating a payments solution for developers, the lack of announcements from Facebook has led many to conclude that building a payment system is not currently a high priority for the company - a move that many in the industry have questioned, citing the overall strength of the space. While Facebook will most likely build its own payments system eventually, the company seems to be more focused on making sure Facebook Connect and the Facebook Platform continue to grow and provide substantial value for the larger application and publisher ecosystems ...

More Rumors Circulating About Facebook Platform Payments System
Inside Facebook — ... system for developers? If so, how will it work, and what kind of payment options will it offer? Will Facebook allow developers to plug into its virtual currency system to enable microtransactions through a universal Facebook credits currency? Such questions have big implications for developers of apps and games that are monetizing through user micropayments inside Facebook. While Facebook announced an initial beta test of a Platform payments system in December of 2007, no public programs have ever been launched. However, yesterday Eric Eldon at VentureBeat ...

Hiring Signals: Facebook Looking for Someone to Lead Its Payments Initiatives
Inside Facebook — ... that it was beta testing a payment platform for developers. However, those plans have since apparently been tabled, and Facebook instead appears to be moving in a ...

Will Facebook Take a Cue from Apple on Payment Fees for Developers?
Inside Facebook — ... Higher transaction fees would also likely earn Facebook praise from critics who have said the company should have been monetizing the platform more aggressively since the beginning, instead of ...