The Social Network is about to become The Commercial Network.
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Facebook has gotten tired of being just friends and is now looking to make some hard cash. Sources close to the giant say it is in talks to allow the sale of goods within its own iPhone and Android mobile browsers, Bloomberg reports.
At the moment, Facebook makes nothing from its mobile apps, because it does not own the browsers used on Apple and Android devices.
And considering the massive rise in mobile computing (Facebook is among the most popular apps on iPhone and Android), it is clear mobile is where its at. Facebook Credits currently allows users buy virtual goods in games and applications like FarmVille and Texas HoldEM Poker.
Under the proposals being thrashed out, a Facebook ‘Credits’ system would also be used by developers allowing the sale of good within the network’s apps, and allow Mark Zuckerberg’s giant get a 30% cut of the transaction value.
To this end, the company is asking software developers to build apps for HTML5 Web standard sources have indicated, dubbed Project Spartan.
This will allow users bypass Google Android and Apple software and let the network grab a large slice of the commission made on mobile transactions for itself.There is currently over 85 million registered iPhone Facebook app users, 52m for Android and 38m on BlackBerry.
The ‘virtual goods’ industry is set to be worth $20 billion by 2014, analysts reckon, so this is one train Facebook will be looking to jump on, the sooner the better, particularly since it poised to go public, possibly this year or next with a market capitalisation as high as $100 billion.
And according to reports, there is one Facebook exec in particular, Sheryl Sandberg, who as Chief operating Officer has given the network the commercial edge it so badly needs, described by The Economist as “a good listener with a keen financial brain.”
Sandberg, whose sharp business acumen is seen to compliment Zuckerberg’s tech genius was said to be the driving force behind the estimated $2 billion sales Facebook achieved last year, mostly through advertising.
The COO has also been hailed as a possible future candidate for the US presidency. And interestingly, she hails from Google, whose mobile revenues her current employer is now looking to usurp.
