Probably about 5 months ago I had a conversation with someone at Facebook about licensing their API.
The beauty of Facebook, as opposed to Myspace and other social networks is that the people on there are for the most part who they say they are, and Facebook does their best to dismiss those who aren't. This simple differentiation makes the membership base of Facebook far more valuable than any other social network.
When you go to my Facebook profile, you get the real me. Thats not to say I answer every profile question. I don't. I'm not going to disclose everything about myself. However, the data that is available about me is the most comprehensive, self maintained database record about me on the internet or probably anywhere. Access to that information times the however many tens of millions of Facebook active users is worth a lot of money.
So with this in mind, I talked to one of their VCs that I know, who referred me to someone at Facebook and we had a great conversation. I asked about licensing the API for use outside the Facebook.com domain. They were definitely open to it. All I needed to do was put together a proposal for what I wanted to do with it. Despite the thousands of ideas I have about how the most comprehensive database of self maintained user information could be used, I just didnt have the piss and vinegar in me to attack this problem with the amount of energy it would take.
So I called a buddy at Yahoo and suggested that they license the Facebook API. I happen to think that far better search and ad serving solutions can be developed around a combination of user published information and user activity It just seems to me that if Facebook were to give me an option of publishing a laundry list of relevant information about myself to external Facebook API applications, such as search and ad serving networks that those applications would serve me better results.
Think "What is my search mood today: Information, entertainment, purchasing, bored..." as a precursor to an actual search. The options that would enable smarter use of the web are endless. Not everyone would avail themselves of what I call Personal Database Publishing to enhance the internet experience, but I believe enough would.
Of course any application can currently ask for this information and many do. But I dont want to have to publish and maintain a database for every application I want to use or happen to use. Nor do I want to have to maintain multiple social network accounts to make this information available. I recognize that this is the exact problem that Google wants to solve with their OpenSocial. But they are too late ... If Facebook opens their API up further and allows for its use outside the Facebook.com domain.
So back to Yahoo and the Facebook API. I thought that if you put the 2 together, enabling Yahoo to access the Facebook database of users within the current API constraints, Yahoo search and ad serving would improve considerably. Expand the Facebook database with an opt in option to add further personal data that could be used FROM WITHIN THE YAHOO WEBSITE, the results for Yahoo could be extraordinary. A Yahoo searchbox within Facebook , or a search from a Yahoo site that recognizes you are the owner of a Facebook profile and customizes the results according to information culled from your profile would be incredibly powerful
I don't know if anything can or would come of my little referral. Maybe now with MicroSoft buying into Facebook, they can get a free crack at the Facebook API and Facebook profile owners who also use MicroSoft Live can get better search and ad results. Who knows.
What I do know is this. As long as Facebook keeps expanding the power of my profile, there is no reason for me or anyone else to create another profile anywhere else, including any of the Google OpenSocial alliance members. If all the value of my Facebook profile remains stopped at the edge of the facebook domain, I might have to give Google OpenSocial a try.
An Open Facebook API vs Google OpenSocial
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Mark,
You are so very right about facebook and the value of my profile data. I am who I say I am. My connections are primarily with people I know in the real world. It is the point of gravity that connects all of us. The value of the network increases as more of my friends join facebook. No reason to leave.
Since facebook hass all of this data that I have willingly given them does allow them to do some very compelling ad serving that is much more customized. I look forward to seeing what they anojunce tuesday. I suspect that in the near future we will see some interesting new ad types and ways of automatically having my experience tailered to my preferences (behaviors).
You are spot on as to why OpenSocial is not really a threat. It is worthy to note that OpenSocial is under the hood and not a destination site so only us geeks know anything about it. Consumers could care less.
Cheers!
Rodney Rumford
Editor: FaceReviews.com
Posted at 2:18PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Rodney Rumford
4. "The beauty of Facebook, as opposed to Myspace and other social networks is that the people on there are for the most part who they say they are, and Facebook does their best to dismiss those who aren't. This simple differentiation makes the membership base of Facebook far more valuable than any other social network."
The real power of the internet can't be realized until it can actually be TRUSTED.
Anonymous email accounts, phony names, spame, phishing and the rest are all a result of technologies problems with keeping up with what their used for. Imagine what would happen if the telephone system allowed callers to impersonate your friends or your bank or some other business. That's exactly what SMTP (email) does.
As someone who's working on the problems that come with changing current technologies (Sendside), I find it more motivating to look at the problem on a larger level. Trust is missing from the net. Trust is what's important to all interactions, business and personal. Trust will be the next wave and it will have to be a walled garden. We've already see what happens with open systems.
Posted at 3:29PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Jeff Barson
5. Hey, I'm "pulse360.com" - And, I'm another interesting Site .......... And only a small part of what is a huge "Global Ads initiative", that will do enormous "harm" to Google, following Tuesday's Facebook announcement ....But I'm only an opinion, of course!
And if you check my Privacy Policy, you can read about your opt-out "option" for "cookies", that we provide:
"To opt-out of other behavior targeting programs not associated with Pulse 360, [click here] for the National Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out tool."
http://www.pulse360.com/privacy.html
And the Link (that's the [click here]...that's provided in the above statement), is as follows:
http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
Oh, and I must advise that all fellow members of the NAI have "access" to (yes, are compatible with) Looksmart's AdCenter (along with the "bid4KeyWords" alternative to Google's Adsense) and in addition, ALL members of the NAI allow publishers and advertisers, to "fully control their campaigns in all facets including their daily spend" ....
And the news is, that "Quigo" have just joined our growing membership (and AOL were already heavily "involved" with the NAI, through it's "advertising.com" and "Tacoda")
Facebook will choose us with the "Bid4Keywords" platform (provided through Looksmart's AdCenter) on Tuesday as most ALL Major Ads Agencies will then have access to Facebook, including Yahoo, MSN (Atlas) and Google, (yes Google), through Double Click's "Performics" ......
< For more information about our ["Bid4Keywords"] third-party advertisers, including how to "opt out" of their targeting programs, please visit their sites: Omniture (207.net), Doubleclick, Commission Junction and Performics.>
http://vortal.0086124.com/privacy.html
"...Facebook will choose ......the "Bid4Keywords" platform ...."
Well .....They'd be foolish not to, wouldn't they? After-all, they have been found to have been testing Ads through "ME" (pulse360.com) of late, now haven't they?
Yes ....It should be a GREAT week for Looksmart's shareholders ...Finally!!!!!
:)
Posted at 5:23PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Ross Bradley
6. Mark I don't follow why you think Open Social is "too late". Facebook only has 50 million people. Within a few years there will be billions of people with social profiles and even if Facebook opens up (as they must), a lot will choose to enter this from other social networks or websites that have "socialized" via the Open Social.
I don't see why Facebook should get all the social glory - they weren't first to the table and they are by no means the
last viable way to socially empower yourself online.
Dude...I just think you are lazy and don't want to set up all those friends again for next year's Dancing with the Stars.
Posted at 5:52PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Joe Hunkins | Joe Duck
9. While I agree that Facebook is currently more valuable NOW because of its users actually being real people, just as with anything, there are ways to game the system. There's no reason why new social networks won't take cues from Facebook and be as or more strict about making sure that people who register are real.
Also, I worry a little about Facebook's direction. While it claims to be a social utility, and utilities are supposed to make things easier/better, it's debatable how much value the average user is getting from all these widgets and apps that individuals and companies are spending lots of money developing. The beauty of Facebook used to be that it was so simple and free of clutter, but it's becoming more crowded, just like MySpace has become.
Just as OpenSocial is only known to the "geeks" now, remember that Facebook was actually pretty geeky when it started, too. All this is definitely interesting to watch.
Posted at 6:59PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Jason Peck
10. I agree that the value of Facebook (or any social network) is the trust we can place on identities. For this reason, I rate LinkedIn the highest. Facebook is next.
But I do think that OpenSocial API has galvanized the non-FB community and will pose a significant competitive pressure on FB. Which may be a good thing for everyone involved.
Remember that it is always hard to imagine what value added features will evolve as a result of this API. Just as, it was hard to imagine all the neat things that FB platform has enabled.
Interesting times. Chinese curse. You get the idea.
Posted at 9:01PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Anshu Sharma
11. Your right on track with your "why would they go anywhere else" comment. That seems to be the major deciding factor in the success or failure of online communities. I look at the opportunity that the association of realtors have in creating an online community of agents, home sellers, and home buyers and I laugh because they are not taking advantage of that opportunity and I know that someone else will.
Posted at 9:12PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Real Estate Contract
12.
What do you think of niche social network sites, which can utilize some of the OpenSocial tools along with also host groups on Facebook and elsewhere to promote themselves while keeping everyone participating in multiple places?
For example http://www.firefighternation.com is just for firefighters, and it provides a super targeted atmosphere. Thats not to say we won't still have a Facebook group for firefighters, share widgets back and forth, etc.
There are still reasons for people to have multiple profiles if some of those profiles are in highly targeted niches. There are values to having profiles on multiple platforms only when the sense of belonging and availability in desired connections resides in those multiple platforms.
That being said, I think LinkedIn and MySpace are in danger as the number of niche networks increases (ala platforms like Ning) and Facebook continues to expand its offerings.
Dave Iannone
Posted at 10:21PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Dave Iannone
13. I'd like to further add support to my previous, (my beliefs):
"..........Facebook will choose us ("pulse360.com") with the "Bid4Keywords" platform on Tuesday (provided to them through Looksmart's AdCenter) as most ALL Major Ads Agencies will then have access to Facebook, including Yahoo, MSN (Atlas) and Google, (yes Google), through Double Click's "Performics" ...... "
And now that "we" have got over the "introductions" let me tell you of some more exciting "news" that will/should involve both Facebook, the NAI and our many, many newspaper/publisher sites (in the millions), all over the world ......Think about it!!
Check (in particular) those "15 defined behavioral segments" being offered. Yes, they are Vortals, (Vertical Portals) that are provided by (and no doubts) the "Vortal Interactive" initiative, between Looksmart and Network Solutions' very own, Mainstream Advertising .....
http://www.pointcom.com/?page_id=49
http://www1.investorvillage.com/beta/smbd.asp?mb=3240&mn=799&pt=msg&mid=2761334
ATLANTA and NEW YORK, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. (TWCI), the most popular source of weather on the Web reaching an average of 25 million unique visitors each month, and Pulse 360, the leading provider of sponsored links to the Web's biggest and best sites, today jointly announced an exclusive multi-year agreement resulting in the launch of Pulse 360's sponsored links on http://www.weather.com.
"weather.com's audience is one of the largest, most respected and highly qualified on the Web and is a great addition to our network," said Lance D. Podell, chief executive officer of Seevast, Pulse 360's parent company. "It is clear that the Web's biggest and best sites require a partner with deep expertise to drive value for advertisers and publishers alike. We were thrilled to be chosen as a partner for weather.com and are confident that our advertisers will benefit from access to this world-class audience."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-18-2007/0004684858&EDATE=
I do like our chance, with Facebook. But as mentioned earlier it all, just an opinion, only.
:)
Posted at 11:42PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Ross Bradley
14. Comment #8 made me laugh.
Your post made me wonder how many of those 50 million FB accounts know they are opening themselves up to highly persuasive marketing, and will they still have accounts when they find out?
Posted at 11:44PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Dominic
15. "But they are too late ... If Facebook opens their API up further and allows for its use outside the Facebook.com domain."
Or said another way: Google isn't too late.
Your dislike of Google via the YouTube hangover is transparent.
On a non-criticism note, I'm surprised you like Facebook over LinkedIn. I feel LinkedIn profiles are also "the real information" but it doesn't have the annoying apps.
Posted at 12:03AM on Nov 5th 2007 by Dempsey
16. I agree with the above comment, LinkedIn is far superior to facebook for "real information" or real people...it's strictly professional, without the nonsense on myspace and increasingly on facebook.
Posted at 1:11AM on Nov 5th 2007 by Nick Colbert
17. Yeah but Linked-in is not nearly as big as facebook nor do I think will it ever be.
Posted at 3:25AM on Nov 5th 2007 by Estate Planning
18. Mark, you're dead on. I've been thinking about this alot over the past 2 years and watching it evolve I'm absolutely certain this will completely change the way everyone interfaces with the Web. At the core lies the social graph, and everything you do will be personalized around it. The key is to gather as much info in the profile as possible, which many of the apps on Facebook are attempting to do. I can clearly see what happens next, and its very exciting...
Posted at 6:06AM on Nov 5th 2007 by Jim Kovarik
19. Mark, I think your points about Facebook are well taken, but with Facebook apparently negotiating with Google over inclusion in OpenSocial, I wonder if all this prognosticating was worth it. I also wonder if this means that Facebooks API will be changed to be compatible with OpenSocial or be replaced with OpenSocial. Hmmm . .. And I was hoping that FB would be a company willing to stand up to Google hegemony . . . for a change. In my mind, Google seems to have won, again . . .
I would have preferred that Google transfer OpenSocial to some sort of industry-wide consortium or public development, where openness is transparent, and public licenses can be used. But instead, it looks as if Google will be the controller of OpenSocial -- not very impartial are they? Of course, if a non-profit is set up to handle OpenSocial, I hope it does not go the way of the Mozilla Corporation -- oops I meant Mozilla Organization . . . It looks they have been wooed by Google money, too.
I like some of Google's products (maps and earth for instance), but lately Google's predatory, paranoid, intrusive "I want to be the middleman in everything web-based" behavior and secrecy gives me the creeps; I no longer use Gmail, nor Google Checkout, and I when I do use Google, I use scroogle.org to scrape Google instead of the actual site. But the latter is rare nowadays. Indeed, I think the quality of their flagship search engine is slipping, most of my searches end up yielding keyword junk. My recent searches for information on Google have yielded few or no results, so I have switched to Yahoo and Live.
20. You should scope this article on OpenSocial.
http://blog.deftlabs.com/2007/11/googles-opensocial-api-no-beef-yet.html
1. Mark:
Since what you really like about Facebook is that people are for the most part who they say they are, please check out my proposal for the Private Identity Network found at replacegoogle.com.
Doc Searls, one of the leaders in the Internet identity movement, left a comment there that it is "a great idea" and he featured it in several blog posts.
Maybe this idea will interest you enough that you will want to get involved in something that could revolutionize the Internet.
Posted at 1:58PM on Nov 4th 2007 by Trey Tomeny