WebProNews

Tag: Facebook Mobile

  • Mobile Or Web? Facebook Doesn’t Care As Long As They’re Part Of It

    Facebook has always had a powerful Web presence and they’re slowly, but surely, making their way into the mobile space. What about the developers who want to make their app connect with Facebook in some way, but not sure which platform to go with? Facebook makes your choice simple – both.

    In a post on their blog, Facebook outlined some tips to help developers get the most out of their relationship with the social network. A lot of the tips are common sense, and have been covered in the past. There are some new ideas here though that take advantage of the newly found avenues of traffic in the App Center and Facebook’s renewed vigor in mobile.

    Like every Facebook post on driving people to your app via Facebook, it begins with the Facebook for login functionality. As you are well aware, many mobile apps now let users sign in via Facebook to side step the annoyance of having to fill out a registration form to start playing or using the app. It’s worth repeating, however, because it really does make a difference. People are more likely to use your app if they can sign in via Facebook (or any other social network for that matter).

    The Facebook login has an ulterior motive that many people probably underestimate. It allows Facebook to post stories about new high scores or activities on the user’s Timeline. People see this and are driven by our instinctual curiosity to see what our friend just scored a million points in. That person might not stick around as a player, but your app effectively used Facebook to drum up interest.

    Facebook reiterates the importance of the Facebook login with two music apps – SongPop and Songza. Both apps have a sign-in method that uses Facebook or Email. It was found that the majority of users signed in via Facebook. These apps also offer bonuses to entice people to sign in with Facebook. It’s a win-win strategy for developers, Facebook and users.

    The final piece of advice from Facebook to would-be developers is this – make a game. Despite people saying that the social gaming trend is dying and Zynga is being repeatedly kicked in the teeth, don’t pay the naysayers any heed. All those social gamers are just moving to mobile and they’re probably playing the same games they did on Facebook if they’re available via mobile. Just be sure to add Facebook login and your app is set for life.

    It’s clear that Facebook is really invested in mobile now. It’s the next giant money pit from which the Facebooks of the world can siphon money from those foolish enough to fall into it. They want the developers of the world to join them in making money from the people who are willing to spend $15 for an extra five minutes of playtime.

  • Android Users Really Like Facebook Mobile Ads

    It seems that Facebook mobile ads are working. That may have been a bit of an understatement as our original report found that the CTR for mobile ads (sponsored stories) was four times higher than all ad placements. That’s not only working, it’s a bustling city of tiny advertising commerce. The question now is who’s driving this massive spike in mobile revenue?

    A report from ad management firm Optimal has revealed that Android users are seemingly in love with Facebook mobile ads. Android users click on ads 10 to 55 percent more than iOS users. Those are some startling figures, but Android users can’t get enough it seems. According to the same report, the conversion rate is through the roof as 28 to 109 percent more Android users engage with these ads than their iOS counterparts.

    Forbes spoke with a few advertisers who confirmed the findings. They found that iOS users still clicked on their fair share number of ads, even more than what’s clicked on the Web. Android was still much higher though with even a rate of sometimes more than 100 percent. It was found that Android users specifically like to click the Like button on mobile ads.

    The report from Optimal only further solidifies the findings from an NPD report back in May that found Facebook was far more popular on Android devices. The study found that the Android Facebook app as well as the mobile Web version had a reach of about 70 to 75 percent. Compile this with the fact that Android users spend 15 minutes a day on Facebook and you have the perfect recipe for mobile ad success.

    The other reason for success is the fact that Facebook for Android is just better than the iOS app according to Optimal CEO Rob Leathern. Speaking to Forbes, he said that brand pages suffer on iOS because users can only Like a page and not really interact with it in any meaningful way. He hopes that the new Facebook-iOS6 integration will improve mobile ads for Apple’s platform.

    In the end, this isn’t about a pissing contest between Android and iOS. There are much better ways for the platforms to compete beyond CTR for mobile ads. This is more about Android setting the example of how best to engage audiences on mobile platforms with advertising. People like to interact with brands and Facebook for Android does this very well. Once iOS gets people on board with the same features, I’m sure the numbers will mostly even out. Unfortunately, it still won’t fix the ungodly amount of time Android users waste their time on the constantly buggy Facebook app.

  • Facebook Likes Invade Open Graph Mobile Apps

    The Like is the center of the Facebook experience. That simple expression has driven Facebook from college pet project to public company worth billions. Unfortunately, one pillar of the Facebook experience has been missing the Like for some time now. It’s time to fix that.

    Facebook announced today that the Like function is now available on mobile apps. While the Like button was around on the mobile version of Facebook, it was sorely missing from mobile apps that integrate Facebook. Through the magic of Open Graph, the almighty Like button will now be able to drive traffic from apps to Facebook and vice versa.

    In other awesome news, mobile apps don’t have to stick to Facebook’s iconic thumbs up for their Like button. Mobile app developers can create their own like button in line with their app’s visual design to drive likes to Facebook.

    Facebook LIkes Invading Mobile Apps

    The Like party doesn’t stop there though. If a friend uploads something on Instagram and you like it, that friend will receive a notification on Facebook about that like. It drives traffic back and forth between Facebook and the app as friends keep on liking and sharing said likes across every app platform on the planet.

    There is one caveat that must be made known to developers. The mobile Like is not a free pass for your app to start cluttering up other people’s Facebook Timelines. A person must authorize your app to let it send notifications about their liking habits.

    Here’s two important things to note when using the new Like actions for mobile app:

  • Starting today we will no longer approve custom like actions. Apps that currently use a custom like action must migrate to use the built-in like action in the next 90 days.
  • A like may only be published when a person performs a like action. For example, if someone gives a movie a five-star rating in a movie app, that warrants a rated action rather than a like action.

    • If you use a custom like action or you’re still working on Facebook integration, check out Facebook’s documentation on the Built-in Like. The Like is a powerful tool and should be treated with caution. Don’t abuse it and it won’t abuse you.

  • Facebook Lets Users Buy Their Way Onto News Feeds

    As much as Facebook would love to still portray itself as a collection of care-free hackers working for its social network users, the company now has investors to answer to. Now that the company has gone public, it will have to report its quarterly earnings to shareholders, who will expect nothing but growth. Facebook is keenly aware of this, and has begun experimenting with several new ways to rake in revenue.

    Some of those new revenue streams have already been implemented. Facebook’s Offers program, which allows businesses to create coupons in News Feed posts and Facebook ads, is nearly out of beta. The new Facebook App Center will give Facebook a cut of paid-for Facebook apps, much like Apple’s App Store. Also, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself has promised that mobile will be Facebook’s new priority, meaning new and better mobile Facebook ads are on the way.

    But now, according to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook is allowing users in New Zealand to purchase their way onto the top of their friends’ News Feeds. From the report:

    The latest revenue spaghetti test came last week, when Facebook began charging users in New Zealand as much as two New Zealand dollars (US$1.53) a post to ensure that their own friends see what they write.

    The feature is currently called “Highlights,” and is, understandably, confusing and angering some New Zealanders. Though brands on Facebook are already able to purchase a service similar to “Highlights,” users must first “like” the brand’s Facebook page before the paid-for posts will hit their News Feed. The Wall Street Journal has quoted a Facebook spokesperson as stating the feature is only a test “to guage people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”

    If this feature becomes more widespread, it could risk upsetting Facebook users en masse. The News Feed, for now, is very much a meritocracy, where much-“liked” posts and posts of great significance, such as marriages and new jobs, rise to the top. A pay-for-placement would upset this balance, making users suspicious of their News Feeds.

    Aside from a backlash from the Facebook community, the “Highlights” revenue scheme could backfire in a different way. Users who pay to flood their friends’ News Feeds with posts could find themselves without too many Facebook friends.

    (via The Wall Street Journal)

  • Facebook Announces Mobile Hacks Roadshow Winners

    Google isn’t the only company that’s down for some good ol’ hackathons. Facebook loves getting in on the action too. That’s why the company hosted the Mobile Hacks Roadshow, a global hackathon event that focused on mobile app development.

    The Roadshow events were held in nine cities over the course of two months. The cities included were New York, Boston, London, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo. Even more impressive is that these nine events drew over 2,000 attendees. Those attendees spent over 450 hours writing code to create over 200 projects.

    Of course, this wasn’t just a regular hackathon for fun and learning. Facebook turned it into a friendly competition of sorts with prizes of high-end mobile devices from Sony and Samsung going to the winners.

    There have been 36 winning projects and 12 honorable mentions so far with Mobile Open Graph being the most popular category. Some of the Facebook’s favorite apps included:

    Instapeace, Tel Aviv: An app which selects two people from different countries (say, Israel and Iran) based on common Open Graph actions – and then displays their interests and Instagram photos to illustrate individuals’ similarities and help promote peace in the region.

    Pass the Smirk, Tel Aviv: A “Hot Potato” meets “Six Degrees” mobile game, where people compete by sending a “Smirk” from one person to another across the globe, accumulating as many transactions and miles as possible in 6 hours. This app received $50k in angel funding from local investors after winning the Hack.

    Promised Mind, Seoul: An app that allows users to post personal resolutions to their Timeline and encourage friends ‘Like’ the resolution to participate. Friends share the cost of the award (if the resolution is kept) or receive a penalty coupon (if it fails). Coupons are subsidized by brands as advertising.

    Corolin Planet, Tokyo: Our special guest, Mark Zuckerberg, visited the Tokyo Hack and this project took his advice to add an Open Graph implementation to an existing mobile game which allowed users to review their friends’ gameplay.

    For a full list of the winners, check out the Facebook page for Mobile Platform Developers. There are pictures of the events and descriptions of all the winning projects. It looks like everybody had a lot of fun and made some great apps while they were at it.

  • Facebook for Every Phone App Launches for 2,500+ Phones

    Facebook has launched a new mobile application that will give users around the world a full social experience on over 2,500 phones. The new app is obviously targeted for people with dumb older phones. The Facebook mobile profile gives the full breakdown on what users can expect:

    “This app not only includes Facebook’s most popular features, such as News Feed, Inbox, and Photos, but also enables you to upload photos and find friends from your phone’s contacts.”

    Facebook for Every Phone

    As you might expect, users will be charged for the data they use. The good news is that Facebook collaborated with 20 mobile carriers worldwide to provide the app free of charge for the first 90 days. The list of carriers offering free data access is Aircel (India), Airtel (India), Banglalink (Bangladesh), Beeline (Russia), Celcom (Malaysia), Etisalat (Egypt, Nigeria), Globe (Philippines), Idea (India), Indosat (Indonesia), O2 Telefonica (Germany), Reliance (India), Smart (Philippines), Smartfren (Indonesia), Telkomsel (Indonesia), Three (Indonesia, United Kingdom), TIM (Brazil), TMN (Portugal), Ufone (Pakistan), Vodafone (Turkey), XL (Indonesia).

    One ting worth noting is that Facebook says the app is optimized to use less data than other Java apps, making it more affordable once the free 90-day period expires.

    You can download the app by visiting m.facebook.com and scrolling to the download link, or enter d.facebook.com/install directly into the mobile browser. You can also find the app in various app stores.

  • Facebook Mobile Count Hits, Passes 100 Million

    Facebook recently updated its official "Statistics" page to reflect the fact that it attracts about 400 million users on a monthly basis.  Today, Facebook announced another interesting piece of data: over 100 million folks can be counted upon to access the site from their mobile phones in the same timeframe.

    Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook’s vice president of user growth, disclosed this detail by posting it on the Facebook Blog, and also wrote, "This usage happens on almost every carrier in the world and comes less than six months after we announced 65 million people on Facebook Mobile."

    Impressive, right?  To put those figures in perspective, the population of the Philippines is in the neighborhood of 100 million, and so is the population of Mexico.

    Also, the number of people who just started using Facebook mobile in the last five months (35 million) is about equal to the number of people who make their home in Algeria, and greater than the number of people who inhabit Canada.

    More growth seems likely to occur, too.  Palihapitiya concluded his post by stating, "No matter which mobile device you own, you can always stay connected through Facebook using our mobile applications, sites or SMS."

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