MySpace Apps Start to Pay Off
Posted by Petrice Gaskin at Aug. 08, 2008
According to Silicon Alley, MySpace's app platform is beginning to pull in money for developers at a rate similar to the pay out they receive from their Facebook apps.
Sridharan speculates that MySpace's app platform is taking off because they added more features, and that Facebook's page redesign may have scared some developers into MySpace's welcoming arms.
It will definitely be interesting to see how both networks develop and what role apps play in that development. For all its popularity, Facebook never quite succeeded in killing MySpace, in the way that MySpace killed Friendster (though it is currently priming itself for a comeback). MySpace has a strong lock on music, and still caters to particular social groups, like goth and techno kids, while Facebook managed to attract users who were turned off by the music-blaring, pink-skull explosion that MySpace evolved into. Facebook also seems to be oddly attractive to "older" users (users in their 30s who refused to use MySpace) who found it to be a great way to reconnect with classmates.
Essentially, both are managing to survive by successfully endearing themselves to particular communities. I wonder if we will start to see differences in the types of apps that developers deliver to their respective platforms, based on perceived differences of the audiences.
That's according to the ad network OfferPal, which provides virtual currency and rewards programs for about 350 apps on social networks -- mostly Facebook and MySpace. The company tells us that their clients are seeing the same returns from apps on each network – about $75 per 1,000 daily active users and $150-$200 for the higher engagement applications. Matt McAllister, the marketing director for OfferPal, said this is a recent development – since June.
Sridharan speculates that MySpace's app platform is taking off because they added more features, and that Facebook's page redesign may have scared some developers into MySpace's welcoming arms.
It will definitely be interesting to see how both networks develop and what role apps play in that development. For all its popularity, Facebook never quite succeeded in killing MySpace, in the way that MySpace killed Friendster (though it is currently priming itself for a comeback). MySpace has a strong lock on music, and still caters to particular social groups, like goth and techno kids, while Facebook managed to attract users who were turned off by the music-blaring, pink-skull explosion that MySpace evolved into. Facebook also seems to be oddly attractive to "older" users (users in their 30s who refused to use MySpace) who found it to be a great way to reconnect with classmates.
Essentially, both are managing to survive by successfully endearing themselves to particular communities. I wonder if we will start to see differences in the types of apps that developers deliver to their respective platforms, based on perceived differences of the audiences.