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Here are some opportunities: Social graph is their biggest asset. 900million users. A number of companies have been built only because of this network. I can ea
by rbn 14y ago
Here are some opportunities:
Social graph is their biggest asset. 900million users.
A number of companies have been built only because of this network. I can easily see them charging large sites in the future.
Spotify, Pinterest, Tumblr are just a few companies using the social graph to build better products and all of them are billion dollar companies using Facebook for free.
Google maps now charges large sites for API calls, Bing is now charging for API calls. Facebook will too.
Payments is an amazing opportunity for them. One click, Purchase With Facebook. The payment processing game is all about the network effect. Dwolla is innovative but they need an "eBay" for them to gain massive usage. Facebook doesn't need it.
Facebook can destroy eBay by creating a marketplace + their own payment processor. Facebook is the only company that can break eBay's monopoly of the online marketplace and payments. This field is ripe for disruption and in the game of network effect Facebook is unstoppable.
I can see them moving into enterprise too. Maybe teaming up with Micosoft's Office 365 to create an awesome enterprise social network with Office 365 built in.
Online gambling laws are starting to become loose. This can be huge for not only zynga but for many, many other massive companies who would love to use the social graph for the gambling. Example: BetFair and Bwin.
- kitsune_ 14y agoAbout your first part: I recently thought about a couple of app ideas that centered around integrating different web applications (facebook, dropbox, soundcloud, youtube). One of the red flags was what you described. The external service providers can pull the plug whenever they want. They can steal your idea, they can charge you for using their API. Of course, if you are lucky they might buy you, but I don't foresee too many 1 billion dollar acquisitions from Facebook in the future.
- rbn 14y agoI think charging for the API in inevitable. As for stealing the idea. I personally never worry about people stealing my ideas because if an idea is good enough it will be stolen and copied %100.