Facebook’s Preferred Application Program preferably mysterious
In the midst and tumult of companies falling all over themselves to launch applications within Facebook’s wildly popular platform was a dirty little secret: that with about 20,000 Facebook apps to choose from, it’s now nearly impossible to stand out from the crowd to gain traction. At some point the scales will inevitably slide to the point where you have the same chance of breaking through with a standalone web presence as with the time and effort it might take to build and launch within Facebook.
Now Facebook is looking to create some hierarchy within its application dominion, creating a Preferred Application Program, according to TechCrunch. Except no one knows yet where the preferred part comes in. It might be by giving apps “in good standing” extra access to invites that other more run of the mill apps aren’t preferable enough to receive.
TechCrunch suggests other ways that preferred apps can be preferred, such as showing up higher in search results. This could easily lead to a pay-for-placement or within Facebook, though there’s no reason to suspect that they’re leaning this way. But you’d have to mention that Facebook folk would love to dream up ways for apps to pay their way into a Featured Apps or Suggested Apps or “You Like iLike? You’ll Love Slide!” sort of revenue-generating path.
I wonder if this program is a way for Facebook to angle its way toward a tighter and more lucrative partnership with upper tier apps? When I first saw the term Preferred Application Program, I assumed it was a way to continue to draw in new apps and create a way for existing apps to better position themselves amongst the rabble. I wonder though if instead it’s simply a way to throw a few bones to the very elite apps.
allfacebook is most concerned with how this might affect the development of a beer pong app.
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