Facebook Credits being phased out
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by Benny Evangelista
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Facebook is phasing out Facebook Credits, a virtual payment method that once showed the potential to become a universal currency system, in a move to broaden the social network's share of online commerce.
Instead, the Menlo Park company is allowing its app and game developers to accept local currency and, more importantly, is introducing subscription plans that could be used by media outlets and entertainment companies.
The move is seen as a signal to investors who have been cool to Facebook stock that the newly public company is seeking new ways to drive revenue.
Facebook Credits had mainly been used by social-game players to buy virtual goods. But the changes announced this week give marketers such as Plink, a Denver company that specialized in an online rewards program based on Facebook Credits, more options to reach a wider audience.
"We can all of a sudden target 900 million people instead of those just playing games," Peter Vogel, Plink co-founder and president, said Wednesday. "Our members have been asking for other options."
In a sense, Facebook is backing away from a plan launched in 2009 to make Facebook Credits the virtual currency used throughout the social network. Analysts saw the potential for Facebook Credits to one day become a universal online currency that could be used across geographic borders.
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Facebook had tried selling Facebook Credit gift cards on the shelves of stores like Target and Walmart. And last July, the company began requiring all social-game developers, including San Francisco's Zynga, to use Facebook Credits as a payment platform, a move that caused developers to grumble privately since Facebook took a 30 percent slice of each transaction.
What's changing is that Facebook is phasing out the Facebook Credits brand in recognition that app developers preferred to create their own virtual currencies, such as Farm Cash in Zynga's "FarmVille" game. That reduced the need for a "platform-wide virtual currency," Prashant Fuloria, Facebook product management director, said in a company blog for developers.
The company is converting Facebook Credit balances to their equivalent values within the individual games and apps. And the new virtual currency system is being changed to support real-world currencies, such as the dollar, the yen and the British pound.
"We hope to simplify the purchase experience, give you more flexibility and make it easier to reach a global audience of Facebook users who want a way to pay for your apps and games in their local currency," Fuloria said. "With local pricing, you will be able to set more granular and consistent prices for non-U.S. users and price the same item differently on a market-by-market basis."
The underlying payment-processing system behind Facebook Credits will remain. That generated about 18 percent of Facebook's revenue in the first quarter.
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And app developers will soon be able to charge subscription fees. Last week, Facebook introduced an App Center that featured about 600 free apps, such as Draw Something, Pinterest, Nike+GPS and Jetpack Joyride.
But Vogel expects the App Center will soon be adding apps that will offer subscriptions, which could be useful for subscription-based companies like Netflix or the Washington Post.
"This may be a signal that Facebook is finally ready to put some muscle behind the payments platform," he said.
Plink last week started moving beyond its use of Facebook Credits by announcing a partnership with Tango Card of Seattle to offer digital gift cards that can be redeemed at stores like the Gap, Home Depot and Target.
Vogel said the company heard from customers who said they wanted to join Plink, but "don't care about Facebook Credits."
Facebook Credits
Facebook Credits is a virtual currency that enables people to purchase items in games and non-gaming applications on the Facebook Platform. One U.S. dollar is the equivalent of 10 Facebook Credits. Facebook Credits are currently available in 15 currencies including U.S. dollars, pound sterling, euros, and Danish kroner. Eventually, it's expected Facebook will expand Credits into a micropayment system open to any Facebook application, whether a game or a media company application.
Facebook Credits went into its alpha stage in May 2009 and progressed into the beta stage in February 2010, which ended in January 2011. At that time, Facebook announced all Facebook game developers would be required to process payments only through Facebook Credits from July 1, 2011.
Facebook retains 30% and developers get 70% of all revenue earned through Credits. Credits is a single currency that can be used in multiple games and applications, and its introduction led former PayPal executives to comment on whether or not Credits could soon replace PayPal as the leader in virtual payments. By the end of 2010, it was expected that Facebook users would purchase Credits to pay for the majority of virtual goods sold on the social network.
In March 2011, Facebook has created an official subsidiary to handle payments: Facebook Payments Inc.
In June 2012 Facebook announced it would no longer use its own money system, Facebook Credits. Users with credits will see them converted into their own currencies.
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Facebook readies app subscriptions
Facebook announced this week that it's begun testing a subscription model for games and other apps. June is shaping up to be a busy month for Facebook: first it launched an App Center, then announced iOS 6 integration - now, plans to roll out app subscriptions.
How does Facebook make money?
Lots of people asked this question when the company announced its IPO earlier in June. According to Facebook, most of its revenue (82 percent) comes from advertising. But now the company, and developers, have a new revenue stream: app subscriptions. Facebook announced Tuesday that developers will be able to offer subscriptions to premium apps starting in July, with Facebook itself taking a 30 percent cut of the revenue.
Plenty of apps now have ways to monetize their content. If you're playing "Draw Something," for example, you might use real-world money to buy coins in the app, then spend those coins on new words or other features. But those are single transactions, and they use the virtual currency of the app in question..
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RELATED: 10 best Facebook apps and games
Now, developers will instead be able to offer a monthly subscription, billed in local currency. (Facebook Credits have been around since 2009, but since most games use their own currencies for in-app purchases anyway, it makes sense to offer pricing in dollars or yen rather than Credits.) Facebook is already testing the subscription model with developers like Kixeye and Zynga. The former's popular "Backyard Monsters" game, for example, will start offering exclusive items and abilities for $9.95 per month.
This is just the latest announcement in a busy month for Facebook: last week Apple announced that its upcoming iOS 6 would have tighter Facebook integration, including the ability to share photos directly from the Camera, post a location right from Maps, and update other information directly from the relevant apps. The social network is integrated elsewhere, too - Facebook events will automatically show up in the iOS Calendar app, and friends' profile information will be used to populate their Contacts field (if someone gets a new phone number, for example, their Contact will automatically update itself). For its part, Facebook is hard at work on an update to its Software Developers Kit that will allow third-party iOS developers to offer similar features in their apps.
Earlier this month, Facebook also began rolling out its App Center for Android, iOS, and the web. The Center is an attempt to ensure app quality by allowing highly-rated apps to rise to the surface while barring shady ones. Only apps that meet a "quality guidelines," Facebook says, will be allowed into the App Center. The Center currently features about 600 apps, although Facebook says that number will rise -- especially once users and developers outside the US gain access to the service.
Readers, what do you think about Facebook's latest developments? Would you pay a monthly fee for a premium app? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Facebook Ads Not Working? Try Facebook Credits
Madison Avenue is questioning the effectiveness of advertising on Facebook. But rather than heading for the doors as did GM, advertisers would be well served to exploit a straightforward solution that enhances the efficacy of Facebook campaigns: the use of Facebook credits as a promotional incentive.
Facebook describes these credits as "a virtual currency you can use to buy virtual goods in any games or apps of the Facebook platform that accept payments." Their most common use is for the purchase of social-gaming assets, like animals or stores on Zynga's FarmVille or CityVille games. But other uses are rapidly proliferating, with the currency being used to buy tickets for events and rent movies.
Millions of people are spending hours playing games on Facebook. To increase their game status, most earn in-game assets through sustained play, rather than buying them with cash. A cow, an energy pack or virtual poker chips might not mean a lot to some people, but social gamers value them deeply, and consistently play long and hard to earn them.
This intersection between gaming, virtual assets and high perceived value creates an opportunity for marketers to reach the Facebook audience in new and powerful ways.
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What distinguishes Facebook Credits as a promotional vehicle?
1. The high perceived value of Facebook Credits: The online retailer Ice ran two comparably valued promotions, one featuring Facebook Credits and the other a cash discount. More than three times as many users responded to the Facebook Credits. In other cases, campaigns to drive certain actions that could never be induced through cash -- such as providing one's e-mail address -- have proven quite effective when the incentive is in the form of digital goods.
2. Ads with Facebook Credits as a call-to-action generate higher click-through rates. After the online retailer Shoebuy added a Facebook-Credits offer as the call-to-action in its display ads on Facebook, the company enjoyed click-through rates two to three times higher than for the ads without the credits offer.
3. Campaigns with Facebook Credits enjoy viral distribution: Social gaming is inherently viral. People play the games on Facebook with their friends and they want their friends to have more assets, to enhance gaming. This is a big reason why users who have earned Facebook Credits via a promotion will share that fact in posts on Facebook.
4. Facebook Credits enable marketers to give customers what they want: With Facebook Credits, customers can buy what they want, be it virtual goods or entertainment tickets.
5. Perhaps most important, incentives with Facebook Credits help break the discount cycle. Repeated price reductions train consumers to expect discounts whenever they make a purchase. Yet too many marketers rely solely on price promotions to move product. By offering customers Facebook Credits instead of cash discounts, marketers can give users something with perceived value that helps to move product.
When incorporated into the Open Graph, each Facebook-Credits redemption is displayed in the Facebook ticker, as well as in the timeline, with verbs like "redeemed" or "gifted,", which enables users to see all of their recently redeemed rewards. This further amplifies the distribution and visibility of the Facebook Credits offer.
As the applicability of Facebook Credits continues to expand, their perceived value will grow. Marketers should take note, and leverage them accordingly to enhance their advertising on Facebook.
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Facebook Brings 'Like' Button to Third-Party Mobile Apps
Tired of being restricted to the Facebook mobile app in order to "like" something? You're in luck; Facebook today said it is integrating its "like" button into third-party apps, which will push your "like" activity to the Facebook newsfeed.
Partners like Instagram and Foursquare have already implemented the feature (click left), Facebook said in a blog post.
How does it work? If you "like" a photo on your Instagram or Foursquare feed, for example, that activity will show up on your Facebook newsfeed rather than remaining within the Foursquare or Instagram apps. If you're Facebook friends with the person whose photo or status you "liked" on the outside apps, meanwhile, that friend will get a Facebook notification.
While this functionality has been available for websites for some time, mobile apps have not been able to do so until today.
Facebook said developers can build their own "like" buttons, which the social network said will help them build awareness of their app and brand across Facebook. On the privacy front, users will have to authorize the apps to publish their activity to Facebook newsfeeds, and only likes - not ratings - can be published.
Those apps that already currently have a custom-built "like" button, meanwhile, will have to switch to this new option in the next 90 days.
The effort is part of Facebook's OpenGraph, which expands Facebook sharing across the Web. Last year, the social network incorporated various apps from music and video providers into the site, which shared non-Facebook activity on the Facebook newsfeed. Listen to a song on Spotify? Read a story on Yahoo? With permission, it would publish automatically to the Facebook newsfeed, prompting some to suggest that Facebook had ruined sharing. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the option enhances the Facebook experience and is the future of social.
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