Tag Archives: facebook

Yahoo gives Flickr a new face, a new app, and a new business model

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Recent activity on the Web site.

Buying Tumblr isn’t the only big thing that Yahoo has done today. Flickr, the photo storage and sharing site bought by Yahoo way back in 2005, has been brought into the 21st century with a new look, new pricing, and a new Android app.

Gone is the old Flickr interface of small thumbnails, gobs of whitespace, and lots of metadata. In its place, the site has big thumbnails, full-screen pictures by default, and metadata for each image tucked below the fold. Flickr’s Lightbox view, that removes the clutter around the page and shows pictures on their own, remains available.

The home page now shows photos of everyone you subscribe to with the most recent handful of pictures that your contacts have uploaded. Each user’s photostream displays a big tiled view of their pictures. This isn’t entirely new to Flickr—it was a feature of the site’s Explore page—but it’s new to individual user pages.

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Facebook’s Growth Since IPO In 12 Big Numbers

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Facebook Growth

$FB is still stuck at $26.25, way down from its $38 IPO price, but it’s made important progress since going public a year ago. Daily users up 26%, mobile monthly users up 56%, and revenue up 38% are some highlights. It’s running out of people to sign up in the developed world, but with this growth and no serious competitor in sight, it’s survived its hardest year yet.

  • Likes – 4.5 Billion – Up 67% – Average number of likes generated as of May 2013, up from 2.7 billion likes generated daily in August 2012
  • Content Items Shared – 4.75 Billion – Up 94% – Average number of content items shared daily as of May 2013, up from 2.45 content items shared daily in August 2012

[Stats and images provided by Facebook]

Likes and sharing are growing faster than Facebook’s user count, indicating strong engagement. This contradicts rumors that people are tuning out of Facebook. Zuckerberg’s Law, the CEO’s Moore’s Law-style theory, states that people will share twice as much every year. Facebook almost made good on Mark’s claim. It’s important that Facebook keeps that number growing as it’s shared content that keeps people visiting Facebook and seeing its ads.

To do that, Facebook is working on the more immersive mobile experience Home which has increased time spent on Facebook by 25% for its small number of active users. More time spent could lead to more sharing. This year it doubled the speed of its massively popular iOS and Android by switching them from HTML5 to native architecture, which lead to longer session times. It added content-specific news feed to boost browsing, and launched Graph Search to pull additional value out its data and get people to contribute more.

It’s also been beefing up its mobile SDKs for iOS and Android to make it easier for apps to share content to Facebook. That’s a big reason Facebook cares about helping its developers grow — they’re scratching each other’s backs.

  • Monthly Active Users – 1.11 Billion – up 23% – As of March 2013, up from 901 million MAUs in March 2012
  • Daily Active Users – 665 Million – up 26% – On average as of March 2013, up from 526 million DAUs on average in March 2012
  • Mobile Monthly Active Users – 751 Million – up 54% – As of March 2013, up from 488 million mobile MAUs in March 2012
  • Instagram – 100 Million Monthly Active Users – As of February 2013

Facebook is still signing up people pretty quickly, but all users are not created equal. While it earned $3.50 per user in the U.S. and Canada in Q1 2013, it only made $0.50 per user in much of the developing world including India and Brazil. Those emerging markets are where Facebook is getting most of its growth, meaning each subsequent 100 million users added is worth less than the last.

Growth in mobile has a similar issue. Facebook can show as many as seven ads per page on desktop whereas it has to be more careful not to overwhelm the small screen on mobile. So as Facebook’s users shift their access medium to mobile, it may earn less on each of them. Facebook is hoping that getting developers to pay for mobile news feed ads to get their apps discovered could counteract this, and that market is poised to grow as more businesses launch apps and the developing world switches to smartphones.

Overall, though, Facebook is still growing strong nine years after launch. The network effect of its ubiquity should not be underestimated. Dislodging Facebook as the premier general purpose social network will require something that’s not just better, but much, much better. Competitors might pick away at certain use cases, but are unlikely to replace it as the core identity provider for the web. Considering Facebook’s willingness to buy out threats like Instagram (which is still growing quickly in the first world), could stave off disruption and let it reign for years to come.

  • Local Businesses – 16 Million – up 100% – Number of local business pages as of May 2013, up from 8 million in June 2012
  • Promoted Posts – 7.5 Million – Number of promoted posts made from June 2012 to May 2013
  • Revenue – $1.46 Billion – up 38% – In the first quarter of 2013, up from $1.06 billion in the first quarter of 2012
  • Ad Revenue – $1.25 Billion – up 43% – In the first quarter of 2013, up from $872 million in the first quarter of 2012
  • Employees – 4,900 – up 38% – As of March 2013, up from 3,539 in March 2012
  • Game Payers – 24% more – Increase from March 2012 to March 2013

There’s no doubt about it. Going public made Facebook focus more on making money. It went from nearly zero revenue on mobile to $375 million a quarter, or about 30% of its total ad revenue. That in large part came thanks to the mobile app install ads it launched late last year. These let developers promote their apps in the Facebook news feed with ads that link straight to download pages in the Apple App Store and Google Play. These stores are getting more and more clogged with apps, inspiring developers to pay Facebook to get found.

Facebook also made big headway with Facebook Exchange, its retargeted ads that use people’s browser histories to show them highly relevant ads. FBX is absorbing advertiser budgets set aside for retargeting. Less successful has been Facebook Gifts, its entrance into direct e-commerce. Gifts has failed to produce meaningful revenue and may need to be overhauled to get more users purchasing real-life presents for their friends. Growth in payments revenue has been relatively slow too, as more game developers move from Facebook’s web canvas where it earns 30% to mobile, where Apple and Google get that cut.

One opportunity that should excite investors is that Facebook started showing ads in Graph Search. While they use the standard Facebook targeting now, they’re expected to incorporate keyword targeting, which could make them a more direct competitor to Google’s wildly lucrative AdWords business. The increasing technological savvy of local businesses could be a boon to Facebook in the future. Right now few of them actively buy social ads, but expect revenue to shift towards Facebook and away from less targeted print and telephone book ads in the future.

Still, Facebook isn’t trying to make as much money as it could. Another year went by without TV commercial-style auto-play video ads (though they’re rumored to be getting closer to this), and it even paused its experiment with a mobile ad network. If Facebook built out these streams it might piss some people off or make them feel like they data is being exploited, but it could definitely produce a huge boost in revenue. Off-site and off-app ad networks could let Facebook leverage its enormous wealth of personal data to power ads elsewhere so it can earn money without showing more ads on its own properties. That potential more than any is an argument for why Facebook is undervalued.

Most importantly of all, Facebook’s efforts to earn more money have not significantly impeded its mission of connecting the world. There are definitely more ads on Facebook, especially on mobile, but the data shows that they’re not annoying users enough to reduce their engagement.

Facebook has grown up. It’s no longer the red-hot startup that could double its user count every year. And it’s not the mature corporation churning out amazing profits by squeezing every last dime out of its data and usage. But Facebook has weathered the storm of going public without letting it destroy its regard for the user experience. It’s now a fundamental utility for most of the world. If it can keep from getting too greedy and stay focused on the long-term health of its community, it will have plenty of time to figure out how to turn the world’s life story into serious business.

Facebook Now Lets You Rate Movies, TV, And Books To Turn Graph Search Into A GoodReads For Everything

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For the first time, Facebook users can now give star ratings to movies, TV shows, and books. That data could help Facebook show more relevant content and results in news feed and Graph Search. The feature comes alongside Facebook’s announcement that it’s finished rolling out “Sections” that show what apps you use. Sections let people express themselves and gives developers a new way to grow.

Facebook first started testing the new Sections in mid-March as part of a redesigned Timeline with all user posts in the right column. Now all users have the cleaner looking Timeline with posts and Sections divided rather than mixed up. Down the left column, each content type and app gets its own Section, which you can configure in your profile’s About tab. The Music Section displays what musicians you Like, the Spotify Section shows off what songs you’ve been listening to, and the OpenTable Section features restaurants you’ve favorited or recently ate at.

Right now Facebook is trying to get more of your opinions codified in its graph, and Sections with ratings are a big step in the right direction. As I wrote, Sections and now ratings could be a data goldmine for Facebook’s Graph Search, as they encourage people to forge connections with apps and media they care about. Graph Search relies on those connections to generate and sort search results for queries like “Movies my friends Like”. Facebook would know to show your friends’ five-star rated movies above lower rated flicks they’ve Liked.

For developers of content consumption apps like Spotify, Hulu, GoodReads and more, Sections will offer another way to grow beyond posts to the news feed. Considering people add 200 million items to Sections each day and it only just reached all users, the growth opportunity could be signficant.

Facebook now has an Insights dashboard specifically for showing developers how much traffic they’re getting from sections. Facebook says “more than 17 billion songs have been added to people’s music sections through Likes and listening activity from apps.” Now Rdio and Spotify can track how those sections are netting them new users.

If Sections catch on and people properly curate them, scrolling through a friend’s sections could be a great way to discover new art and apps. Meanwhile Facebook gets to chow down on the data you volunteer. Give Game Of Thrones a five-star review? Facebook will know to show you more of its Page’s updates in your news feed than a show you Like but only give three or four stars to. Add RunKeeper to your visible app sections and Facebook will probably show you more runs posted by friends.

The fact is that the apps we use and the media we consume are becoming an important way we express ourselves. Facebook wants Timeline to tell you life story, and that story would be incomplete without this data.

Update Your Facebook Status And Comment Using Google Glass And Your Voice With ThroughGlass

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We recently wrote about an app for Google Glass that lets you share photos to Facebook, but another one has come out that has a way more interesting feature, the ability to create status messages or comment on on the social network with the sound of your voice.

ThroughGlass gives you more opportunities to interact, rather than simply share. You can post a status update, then see all of the comments and likes that come in. If you want, you can even reply to the interactions you’re getting using the same voice commands.

The app was built by Drew Baumann and Andrew Skotzko, and they’re calling it the best Facebook app for Glass…until Facebook releases one of its own:

I’ve found that voice commands, for Glass or on any mobile device, are only useful for utility purposes, such as asking for directions or providing a search. However, for the first time, I’ve found that sharing a quick thought using the device might be useful. ThroughGlass is closer to something that Facebook would build itself.

Once you install the app and turn sharing on for it, it gives you the option to “pin it,” which tosses it under all of the pre-installed Cards that Google provides you with. That way, you have instant access to the app, whenever you want to share a status update or photo:

Tap status update, and then you’ll get the dialogue to start speaking your mind:

Once you share your update, it will show up on Facebook like any other update would, allowing people to comment and like it:

As people start interacting, you’ll be alerted on Glass and then given the opportunity to reply, which is what makes this app really useful:

This is an example of the incremental improvements that we can expect for Glass apps, as developers start exploring the Mirror API. For example, this is the first time that I’ve seen an app utilize the “pin” functionality, something that is akin to adding apps to a dock. As we wait for official apps from Facebook and Twitter, developers are trying to bring the future to Glass wearers now.

The Hot New Online Retail Strategy: Pushing More In-Store Purchases

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You’d think that when retailers enhance their online shopping options, the goal would be increased online sales. Not so with Target, Gap and Rite Aid — which are adding new online tools with the hopes of boosting in-store sales. During the recent winter-holiday shopping season, retailers like Kohl’s, JCPenney and Sears were actively blurring the lines of online/off-line shopping with a mix of promotions — some meant to entice in-store shoppers to visit the store website, others intended to attract Web shoppers into physical stores. The offers represent the latest example of how we are living in an omnichannel “bricks and clicks” retail world, where shoppers are comfortable hunting for deals and making purchases in virtually every manner possible — and where retailers are therefore trying to reach shoppers everywhere they’re willing to spend. Even so, while retailers aren’t going to turn away online sales, it’s clear that they prefer shoppers to be walking among the aisles of tempting merchandise inside physical stores. Why? It’s assumed that consumers who make the effort to visit real-life stores are more serious about their intent to spend. The online experience is perfectly suited for quick, easy browsing. But all too often, the browsing doesn’t translate into actual purchases — hence the better-than-average chance of so-called shopping-cart abandonment. There are plenty of looky-loos in real-world stores as well, but the need for immediate gratification, and the way that holding an item, seeing it in person, or trying it on can push a shopper over the edge with desire, means that the in-store shopper is generally quicker to pull the trigger on purchases than his online counterpart. (MORE: Is Retail Therapy for Real? 5 Ways Shopping Is Actually Good for You) There’s also the impulse-purchase factor: consumers are more likely to make unplanned purchases in actual stores. According to a survey conducted last year by Dimensional Research and Wanderful Media, 65% of consumers who use their mobile devices to shop had made an impulse purchase online during the previous month, compared with 74% who had made

New Android chief talks Facebook Home, Samsung phones, and OS updates

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Pichai seems open to Android meaning lots of different things to lots of people and companies.
It Came from China

An interview with Sundar Pichai over at Wired has settled some questions about suspected Google plans, rivalries, and alliances. Pichai was recently announced as Andy Rubin’s replacement as head of Android, and he expressed cool confidence ahead of Google I/O about the company’s relationships with both Facebook and Samsung. He even felt good about the future of the spotty Android OS update situation.

Tensions between Google and Samsung, the overwhelmingly dominant Android handset manufacturer, are reportedly rising. But Pichai expressed nothing but goodwill toward the company. “We work with them on pretty much almost all our important products,” Pichai said while brandishing his own Samsung Galaxy S 4. “Samsung plays a critical role in helping Android be successful.”

Pichai noted in particular the need for companies that make “innovation in displays [and] in batteries” a priority. His attitude toward Motorola, which Google bought almost two years ago, was more nonchalant: “For the purposes of the Android ecosystem, Motorola is [just another] partner.”

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Facebook Home Is Losing Steam In The Charts…Fast

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Facebook Home Ready

Facebook Home, the app which CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted as the “next version of Facebook,” has not been an immediate hit. Its Google Play rankings have been dropping steadily after the launch buzz wore off, according to new data from top app store analytics firms. Despite having an active user base of over a billion on the social network itself, the company announced on Thursday that it was just now “nearing” 1 million downloads for its Home app. Plus, AT&T also slashed pricing this week on the HTC First, the first Facebook Home-powered handset, which went from $99 to just $0.99.

The data shows it’s been a struggle so far, in terms of user acquisition, for Facebook Home.

The application became available for download on April 12th on Google Play, where only a limited selection of devices were supported: the  HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II. A preloaded version of the app was made available via the HTC First, which officially went on sale that same day. This week, support for the HTC One and Galaxy S4 was also added.

To be fair, the limited rollout is partially responsible for the app’s inability to maintain a higher ranking.

On April 24th, Facebook Home reached its best position on the charts in many of the countries where it was available, but its ranks have declined in several key markets since. Its moves indicate an early rush from curious Android owners, but then a tapering off as word got out that the app wasn’t quite ready for primetime.

App Annie’s data demonstrates this rise, then subsequent fall. Shortly after becoming publicly available, Facebook Home reached #72 overall in the U.S., on April 16th. By April 23th, it had also reached the top 100 overall in 8 countries (Norway, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Hong Kong, Hungary, U.K.), and the top 500 in 38 countries. By the end of April, it started to drop, then ranking in the top 500 in 29 countries, and having dropped out of the top 100 worldwide altogether.

It has yet to return to the top 100 in any market.

Distimo’s analysis of the top 500 apps on Google Play, also confirms the same general trends. Towards the end of April (4/29), the firm found that Facebook Home was ranked highest in Luxembourg, where it was #83 overall, and was lowest in Portugal where it was ranked #477, but its ranking was on the decline.

In the chart below, you can see Facebook Home’s top ranks as of 4/29 as well as its ranking change since just a few days prior (4/24), indicated by the small number at the top of each country’s bar.

As of a few days ago (5/8), Distimo found that the picture for Facebook Home has gotten even worse. In key countries including France, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina, Facebook Home remains out of the top 500 overall apps.

And the number of countries where Facebook Home is even ranked is fewer still. (Compare the number of bars in the chart below to the above).

You can also see the ranking decline for the U.S., Germany and Australia, pictured below as a line graph.

App Annie confirms this decline, too. As of May 10th, their data shows Facebook Home is only in the top 500 in 19 countries. And it’s not close to breaking the top 100 in any of these, with #191 being its highest ranking – and that’s in Norway.

Most countries are somewhere in the 300-400 range – for example, the U.S. is #338.

Still Time To Recover? 

This is not what you would call a hit.

Even Facebook itself fudged its numbers when discussing Facebook Home traction earlier this week, noting that the app was “nearing 1 million downloads.” Those are downloads, not actives. And as the above data indicates, the app is losing steam on the charts.

That being said, for those who adopt Home, engagement soars. To summarize an earlier report: among those who use the app, 25 percent spend more time on Facebook as a whole, with comments and likes up 25 percent, Chat usage up 7 percent, and messages sent up by 10 percent.

But the goal now is to get more people to download – and then not abandon – the application. Facebook outlined its plans for this, saying it will soon offer a better onboarding experience for new users, add an icon dock (the tray of favorite apps at the bottom of your homescreen), make it easier to initiate chats with a new “Dash Bar,” and will work towards becoming more homescreen layer than replacement, so as not to disrespect the work users have done in customizing their phone.

Time well tell whether or not Facebook can make these changes in time, before it loses further mindshare among early adopters who are now spreading word that the app is a flop.

Facebook plans on fixing Home so that Android users feel (wait for it) at home

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MENLO PARK, CA—It’s been a month since Facebook Home launched to the Android masses. Though it’s been met with mixed reviews—the app currently holds a two-star rating in the Google Play store—Facebook is still pushing updates, some of which are specifically tailored to those negative comments on the app’s reviews page.

To coincide with the update to the Facebook Home app on Android, Facebook held a whiteboard session at its campus today. Vice President of Mobile Engineering Cory Ondrejka and Director of Product Adam Mosseri addressed burgeoning concerns surrounding the social-centric application, in addition to detailing several new features planned for a future update. “The five star reviewers are pretty outspoken, saying things like, ‘We love what cover feed is doing,’” said Ondrejka. “We spent a lot of time diving throughout the one-star ratings…and it really breaks into the categories of [what features are missing].”

A look at what the next iteration of Facebook Home will look like with Folders and a Dock. (Apologies for the picture quality.)

In a forthcoming update, the application launcher that’s a part of Home will include both Docks and Folders. These are two features of the Android operating system that have disappeared according to sad Home users. “We want to ease the transition from your old launcher to the new launcher,” added Mosseri. When users swipe up to access their applications, the Dock will show up in addition to the rest of the applications.

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