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I recently built a Facebook application that approached the same kind of growth. Sites like this typically see eCPM between $0.10 and $0.30 for advertising. So
by gdeglin 16y ago
I recently built a Facebook application that approached the same kind of growth.
Sites like this typically see eCPM between $0.10 and $0.30 for advertising. So you're looking at around $30/day revenue right now.
Consider switching to EC2. This will allow you to easily scale up to a more powerful server if growth continues or down to a less powerful one if traffic tapers off.
Depending on how you set things up, a common bottleneck for Facebook applications is API calls. Ensure you are not making any API calls from Rails, since this will cause Rails processes to hang until Facebook returns results. With high traffic this could easily cause your server to become overwhelmed. Move all API calls to Delayed Job or another background processing system if you haven't already.
It looks like you have relatively few remotely loaded assets, which is great. You can likely speed things up more by making sure that your database is well optimized for the server (Make sure query cache is enabled, and you have indexes on the right columns for example), and identify any actions that take a long time to return.
As for what to expect in the future, growth will not be infinite. There are a finite number of people on earth that are going to love your site and Facebook integration is a fantastic way to reach nearly all of those people in a very short amount of time. After a while most of those people will get bored and you will see traffic begin to fall. The best ways to address this are by consistently releasing new features to reengage users or by referring your users to other similar sites that you build.
- klbarry 16y agoWould it be possible to see your Facebook app? I'm curious to see what traits these fast growing apps have in common in person.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- dools 16y ago2 words: self-interest.
- gdeglin 16y agoSorry. It got banned from platform for a few reasons including tagging photos that didn't have people in them. (Similar to the cartoons that people upload and tag their friends as characters). In general the biggest trait is that the app is built around sharing. Apps where sharing is a secondary feature generally do much worse in comparison to those where the whole point of the app is to share something. Even successful games on the Facebook platform universally require users to share content with friends to progress. Many of the most basic viral apps are simply based around sending gifts to friends. If 10% of users that receive some sort of virtual gift then go on to send it to an average of 11 friends, your app will be highly viral in no time.
- zachster 16y agoThat's really interesting. My recent viral app, Profile Banner, also utilizes tagging of photos without people. How long did it take before your app was banned?
- mw63214 16y agoNew Feature Idea if it's not already in the works: threewords.me places (foursquare?). would leverage current users engagement to tag locations with a dead simple description. could keep users coming back, provide utility(value)to businesses, and make you some more money. email me (mw63214@gmail.com) if you want more ideas, although it seems you have your hands full as it is. Good Luck!
- mw63214 16y agoAlso, I don't know how time-intensive it would be, but it could be helpful to have some sort of drop-down box that initiates when users start typing in the three word spaces. Sort of like a google-instant-type thing. 5 synonyms pop up ranging from strong to weak. So if I started typing "h-o-", it would infer I was typing "hot" and (on the left, or strong side) it would have "blazing" and on the right(or weak side) it would have "warm". Or something of that nature. You get the picture. Might be easier for mobile folks to get the best possible description and faster.