Facebook Apps Already Paying Off

Looks like Facebook’s new apps are already paying off. According to a Wall St. Journal Article, besides the buzz the apps are getting, Facebook users have grown to 27 million (from 24) since the launch ~ 1 month. I’m sure many sites, especially those as big as Facebook, would take 12%+ growth in a month.

According to the piece:

Facebook now offers more than 800 new services — from photo slideshows to online file storage — up from fewer than 100 a month ago. Meanwhile, those who are creating the Facebook services can access information about their customers and make money by selling related items and ads.

Facebook is actually borrowing a tactic pioneered by Microsoft: Rather than building every piece of technology yourself, let others build on your “platform,” much the way Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and others built software for Microsoft’s Windows operating system in the 1980s. Using this strategy, Facebook can nurture an ecosystem of developers who can create services far faster than Facebook could build them on its own.

As the article points out, iLike (one of the more popular apps centered around music) already receives more revenue from Facebook than it does from it’s own site. It offers users 3 unique music-centric apps on Facebook’s platform:

1. A very addictive music quiz
2. The ability to post 30-second music clips
3. The functionality to search concert listings

They’ve still got a ways to go to catch MySpace since MySpace had 105 million visitors vs. Facebook’s 38.8 million. But the gap is closing and closing fast. Exciting times in the world of Social utility.

Tags: Facebook, iLike

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