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facebook credits

Facebook Credits Draws Anti-Trust Complaints From Consumer Watchdog

June 30, 2011

facebook credits Facebook Credits Draws Anti Trust Complaints From Consumer WatchdogTill the end of today, the 30th June 2011, Facebook users will be able to buy game and virtual goods with game credits or Facebook Credits via most credit cards or PayPal. Come tomorrow, all transactions – not only virtual items in social games, but digital goods like movies and music – will take place via Facebook credits only.

Consumer Watchdog filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the company’s virtual currency arguing, in a 28-page complaint, that “the new Facebook Credits terms will enable Facebook to maintain and extend its monopoly power over the market for virtual goods purchased in social games.”

In addition, the complaint accuses the social networking giant of restricting competition by prohibiting game developers from offering lower prices to users outside the Facebook platform.

Ten Facebook Credits approximately cost UD$1, and the sale of Facebook Credits is currently estimated to be in excess of US$2 billion.

With its hand on 30% of every transaction that takes place via Facebook Credits, the introduction Facebook Credits as the only virtual currency on Facebook, and without any competition, puts the networking powerhouse on the road to dominance of all online commercial transactions and further extend Facebook’s already overwhelming monopoly power.

Referring to a rumored exemption granted to Zynga, Consumer Watchdog also took a dig at the leading social game developer on Facebook.

“The agreement between Facebook and Zynga, if published reports are correct, would therefore constitute a conspiracy between competitors and further extend Facebook’s already overwhelming monopoly power,” the group said.

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Facebook Adds More Payment Options For Facebook Credits

June 25, 2011

facebook credits Facebook Adds More Payment Options For Facebook CreditsFacebook intends to make Facebook Credits as the de facto virtual currency on Facebook and the time is fast approaching.

Facebook has announced long time back that starting July 1, 2011, all game developers on Facebook are required to use Facebook Credits as a payment option.

Nowadays, Facebook Credits are not only be used to buy virtual game items or goods, but also digital goods like movies, music etc.

So, using a single currency on Facebook will provide users an easy way to buy virtual goods, and to transfer Credits between games and applications. It also takes away the hassle of making transactions through various payments options available on various games and applications.

As the social network giant pockets 30 per cent of all transaction that takes place using Facebook credits, game developers have raise their disapproval, but Facebook justified the move saying the single currency will make it easier for players to pay for things on Facebook. Moreover, Facebook will take over the headache of storing players’ credit card information and the various task associated with protecting and preventing frauds.

Facebook have added more payment options for Facebook Credits in 13 countries in Asia and Latin America. Click here for a complete list of the countries and the payment methods through which you can buy Facebook Credits.

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TrialPay Extends DealSpot Offers To Developers Using Facebook Credits

February 16, 2011

Earn Free Credits Ravenwood TrialPay Extends DealSpot Offers To Developers Using Facebook CreditsTrialpay has partnered with Facebook to offer its new Dealspot,  ‘in-game offers’ API, to developers using Facebook Credits. Developers can place a custom icon within their game, which when clicked will show users targeted offers to earn Facebook Credits.

DealSpot, which has been around two months in beta have been integrated into by popular developers like Zynga, Playdom, CrowdStar and Lolapps.

DealSpot offer users with different ways to earn free Credits – purchasing web service subscriptions, signing up for free accounts, buying holiday gifts, watching videos, and more.

Developers can design their own custom in-game icon like “Earn Free Credits” or “Deal of the Day” to attract users, and place it in the games. The icon only appears if TrialPay has deals available.  Available deals are shown in a pop-up window when clicked. Users receive credits once they complete the offer, and resume the game where they left off.

By extending the Dealspot offers to developers using Facebook Credits, there is no doubt you will be earning quite a bit soon and not to forget, use of Facebook Credits is becoming mandatory w.e.f July.

No matter what’s the offer, it is just another way of making you spend money on virtual goods, but, wouldn’t you rather buy flowers lady from online store and get 220 free Credits or buy a subscription to People magazine and get 176 City Cash rather than just pay for the virtual Credits? Gotcha!! icon smile TrialPay Extends DealSpot Offers To Developers Using Facebook Credits

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Use Of Facebook Credits Mandatory w.e.f July 1

January 26, 2011

facebook credits Use Of Facebook Credits Mandatory w.e.f July 1Facebook plans to make Facebook Credit as the sole virtual currency on Facebook.

According to Deborah Liu, Platform Marketing Manager at Facebook, all social game developers have to move over to Facebook credits for processing all virtual goods transactions w.e.f July 1.

In her blog post Monday, she said that more than 350 applications from 150 game developers already use Credits, and that accounts for more than 70 percent of all virtual goods transactions on the site.

As we all know, Facebook charge a flat 30% of all transactions that take place through Facebook Credits. So, needless to say, many game developers are unhappy about it, but Facebook (sensing it I guess) revealed two new incentives the company will be offering:

Frictionless payments – For small payments developers can charge through the API and you don’t need a confirmation page.

‘Buy with friends’  – Developers can set up this feature through which users can share a purchase they made with their friends. More than 50 percent of users actually elected to share those purchases. “We’re innovating on social purchasing.”

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Facebook Sales Expected To Hit $2 Billion In 2010

December 17, 2010

Facebook is reportedly on the track to generating $2 billion in revenue for 2010, which is way higher than the previously projected revenue of $1 billion to $1.1 billion.

According to Bloomberg, sources have said the company’s annual revenue would have more than doubled from 2009, where the company made between $700 million and $800 million.

Thanks to its 500-plus million users, Facebook has become an attractive target for advertisers that includes big names like Coca-Cola, Adidas, and JP Morgan Chase. Facebook on the other hand is doing its job well by serving around 50 billion display ads a month, and is looking forward to serve a whopping 1 trillion display ads for 2010.

Facebook is also making a lot of cash through social gaming. With more than 200 million users actively playing social games, Facebook is reaping well with its decision to take 30% of all transactions done through Facebook credits.

Facebook has certainly made great strides in 2010 – from becoming the ultimate destination on the Internet to becoming the number one online ads display site to bagging the best workplace, and its founder and CEO being honored with the title of Time’s 2010 Person of the Year – Zuckerberg and his colleagues definitely has a lot to celebrate for.

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Facebook Credits Goes On Sale At Retails In UK

November 19, 2010

Gift cards for Facebook Credits, the de facto virtual currency of Facebook, go on sale in the U.K.

They are now available in Tesco and Game stores, in denominations between £5 and £25.

Facebook credits can be bought with credit cards using various payment options on Facebook. However, Facebook says purchasing credits through game cards were a better option for young users of the site.

“By using Facebook Credits as an alternative payment option, they [parents] can control the budget their teen has to play with games online and also avoid fees or overpayment on their credit card. It’s a real plus in terms of security and peace of mind,” explains a Facebook spokesperson.

These gift cards will also provide an alternative for those who don’t want to share their credit card information on the social network site. Moreover, with the festive season just around the corner, gift cards will also make an ideal Christmas present for many users.

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Facebook Gift Card Hits Stores On September 5

September 1, 2010

fb credits 300x287 Facebook Gift Card Hits Stores On September 5Target will be the first brick and mortar retailer to sell Facebook credits. Facebook gift card, according to Target, will be an ideal gift for those who enjoys social games on Facebook this holiday season.

Facebook’s gift cards will be available in values of $15, $25, and $50 at Target’s retail stores as well as on Target.com. The cards go on sale from Sept. 5.
The cards can be used to buy virtual goods in more than 150 social games and applications.

Facebook has already team up with a number of gaming companies like Zynga, Crowdstar, RockYou allowing players to use Facebook Credits to buy virtual goods.

Facebook is all set to rake in more revenues with this move. The domestic prepaid gift card market, according to Mercator Advisory Group, is expected to reach $86.2 bilion this year, up by almost $6 billion from $80.6 billion in 2009.

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Facebook Credits Comes To FarmVille

March 10, 2010

Farmers of FarmVille who are looking to purchase in-game currency will now have a new option. Apart from the previously  available options, Credit cards and PayPal, Farm Cash and Farm Coins can now be purchased using Facebook Credits – Facebook’s virtual currency.

FB Credits FarmVille Facebook Credits Comes To FarmVille

This new payment system have been adopted in a number of popular Facebook games like Happy Island, Happy Aquarium and Happy Pets, where Facebook Credits is the sole option for in-game purchases.

This new payment option in FarmVille is arguably bigger for Facebook Credits than it is for the game, with the amount of exposure it will get through the game.

FarmVille has more than 83 million users, making it larger than Twitter. If the Facebook Credit payment option catches up in FarmVille, Facebook could very well cross the speculated $1 billion revenue mark in 2010, taking into account the 30% take on revenues generated through Facebook Credits.

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Facebook To Roll Out Facebook Credits And Take 30% Revenue

February 26, 2010

Facebook’s virtual currency, Facebook Credits, is almost on it way for a full launch.

Facebook explains in their developers blog that the long-term goal of Facebook Credits is to provide a currency that makes purchasing virtual items across applications fast and simple.

Facebook Credits supports various credit cards, fifteen currencies, mobile payments and now PayPal too.

facebook credits 300x218 Facebook To Roll Out Facebook Credits And Take 30% Revenue

Source:Facebook

According to the blog, “Today more than 500,000 applications exist on Facebook, and the virtual goods within those applications (particularly games) have become an increasingly valuable part of the user experience. By providing a single, cross-application currency, our goal is to making transactions simpler for users, leading to a higher conversion rate for developers. Specifically, our early testing has shown that users paying with Facebook Credits are significantly more likely to complete a purchase than the average Facebook user.”

Apart form the full launch of Facebook virtual currency, Facebook has publicly announced that it plans to take a full 30% of the revenues earned for goods sold via Facebook Credits.

Some developers are said to have denounce that as being too expensive, but Facebook assures developers in the blog post they are going to invest “heavily in the ecosystem” by educating users and marketing the currency, testing out incentive to get people to try the credits, and seeding Credits in a way to promote repeat engagement.

Though this sudden proposal of 30% cut from the developer’s revenue will be felt as a big hole in the pocket, as Facebook assures, providing a single, cross-application currency, and simpler transactions will drive users to repeated engagement of buying virtual goods. This will also help to erase users reluctance to do transactions with third-party currency providers. And by the way, Apple also happens to take the same percentage from App Store sales.

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