p2pnet.net news:- Facebook wants to become a central hub for users, “akin to an Internet portal like Yahoo Inc,” says The Wall Street Journal.

Under a new plan, “Rather than using Facebook only to keep in touch with friends and going elsewhere for other content, users could … gain access to that content inside Facebook,” says the story.

And that, it makes clear, “could keep people on Facebook for longer periods of time, which would also appeal to advertisers”.

The report says it isn’t evident how Facebook would make money from the “platform strategy,” but according to someone who’s “familiar with the matter,” it isn’t planning to share revenue with firms which develop services to run on Facebook’s platform.

“In that case, the main draw for companies that put their services on the site would be visibility and access to users of the Facebook site,” says the WSJ.

Most of Facebook’s revenue comes from a deal in which Microsoft brokers display ads. But, the story goes on, “Facebook also controls other areas, such as a ‘news feed’ section that shows up when a user logs in. It displays text ads alongside updates on the activities of that user’s friends. In February, the company started selling virtual ‘gifts’ like roses that users can send to each other for a fee. Earlier this month, it added classified advertising; while now free, that could eventually become a new revenue stream.”

Adds The Wall Street Journal, “Some Silicon Valley cognoscenti have compared Facebook to Google. Google faced similar challenges in the late 1990s, when its young, scrappy founders dealt with skepticism over their lack of experience, lateness to the search arena, and focus on technology over revenue.”

So ceo Mark Zuckerberg’s moves, “are being closely watched as a barometer of whether a new generation of Web companies can remain independent yet grow very large”.

Slashdot it!

Also See:
The Wall Street Journal - Facebook Opens Its Pages As a Way to Fuel Growth, May 21, 2007

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 9:31 am and is filed under Product News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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