Facebook is holding a Developer Garage today at its offices in Palo Alto, and a number of new app policies will be formally announced. Some of the changes, though, are so dramatic that Facebook has briefed the bigger app developers in advance. And those developers are, to say the least, more than a little worried about the effect the changes will have on traffic and usage. One source we’ve spoken with estimates that the changes may drop usage on their apps by 70% or more (more on that below, some developers may use the changes to their advantage).
Like previous changes, Facebook is moving to clean up their user interface and try to get application spam under control. The changes will roll out over the next six months, we’ve heard.
Last week Facebook changed the way it publishes the news stream to users. For the last few months users have seen a constant Twitter-like stream of news from friends. Now the default view is algorithmic. A lot of applications (especially these guys) encourage users to add a status update every few minutes with what they’re up to – and when there was a constant stream of this stuff the apps benefited from all the extra traffic. That’s all muted now, and developers we spoke with say traffic and usage has declined 20% – 30% from just that one change.
And today Facebook will hit developers even harder. An even more lucrative traffic stream for apps comes from notifications – the pop up box in the lower right hand corner of Facebook that tells you when people leave comments or “like” your links and updates, etc. Today apps have free reign to publish into notifications without even telling the user. And they do it. A lot. When the changes go into effect, we’ve heard, apps will no longer be able to publish to notifications. There goes another 40% of traffic for the apps that use it heavily, say our sources.
Instead, developers will get apps back on the home page of users in the left sidebar, along with notifications of new messages from the application in that sidebar. There will also be a new channel in the messaging inbox for notifications from apps. And developers are also encouraged to create direct email relationships with users and communicate with them off-Facebook.
The overall plan will be to let users get notifications from apps they use and/or their friends use when they want them, but to get them out of the news feed, messages and notifications where they’re spammy. One source we spoke with says that developers who use the new tools properly may even get better quality communications with users. “Innovating developers will adjust,” said our source.
There are lots of other changes coming today as well, but our understanding is the notification prohibition is the big hit to developers. As a Facebook user, I’m ecstatic. But App developers aren’t. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus had to cancel a talk at Harvard Business School last week to get back with him team and figure out how they’ll deal with the changes.
Here’s the other big change today: Facebook is apparently a little tired of making and then endlessly changing developer rules to plug loopholes and keep the user experience tolerable. So instead of trying to put in writing everything that developers can and cannot do to spread word about their apps, they’ll move to more of an Apple/iPhone model. Meaning they’ll reserve the right to just say “we don’t like what you’re doing” and take action against the app. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean applications need to pre-approved like they are on the iPhone.
So how many cows and goats do you have Mike?
i bought like 15 cows, a chicken and four sheep.
Awesome.
This is one of the major drawbacks of developing on a closed platform.
Short term this is good for facebook users, but in the long run it will hurt facebook.
Hurt Facebook? App spam was one of the biggest things hurting Facebook.
+1
Its hurting Facebook bigtime. The sooner this App Spam is gone, the better!
yeah this is pruning the hedge to allow for new growth.
I thought it was planting the seeds, not puning the hedge
This is a net winner for anyone except crappy app developers. Fewer, better apps is a plus, long term.
Facebook is a crappy app. Very ironic.
If developers don’t trust the Gatekeepers they will find other platforms to develop for (twitter?) In the long run it will stifle facebook’s ability to innovate and compete with twitter’s growing developer community
Like how if a Windows developer doesn’t like Windows, they’ll simply move to developing for Linux/Mac only?
FB has the audience, therefore they have the developers. Twitter’s entire functionality is equivalent to a single feature of Facebook, and popular games like Farmville and more sophisticated apps are impossible on the platform.
The devs will sink or swim, but they won’t leave.
+1
Sam, are you joking?
FINALLY.
Now I can actually see what my friends WANT to share with me instead of endless app spam form farmville, mafia wars, and personality quizzes. This type of spam isn’t tolerated on Twitter, and I’m glad to see it won’t be allowed any longer on Facebook. This is sure to ruffle the feathers of app developers, but it’s a total win for end users, which is where the focus should be.
+1 Facebook
If you think your friends don’t want to share that stuff with you, you don’t know your friends very well.
The “app spam” as everyone seems to be calling it is not that at all. Facebook long ago took away the ability for apps to automatically post to your feed. So all of those Farmville, Mafia Wars, and quiz posts are actually things your friends are choosing to share. But evidently Facebook has determined that they know better than their users what should and should not be shared. This is a square kick in the nuts for all of the developers that have worked to build a huge piece of the Facebook engagement story. Thanks Facebook.
About time.
Application spam is hella annoying. I’m sick of being marketed to by these scum.
Good riddance.
This is a good change for Facebook and Facebook users.
you said ‘they’ll reserve the right to just say “we don’t like what you’re doing” and take action against the app’ – they already do this. Remember the Google Friend Connect experience, the ACLU quiz app, and others that did things that users lieked but FB didn’t.
This is officially a closed platform, the wild west is over. Time for all to pay taxes and be subject to intense zoning laws.
Good riddance! Been waiting for this a long time.
Good. Facebook app spam is a serious problem and any developer who complains about these changes is guilty of it.
How about this… Facebook abolish all superfluous apps. There is absolutely NO intrinsic value for FarmVille and other stupid games. I’m getting sick and tired of blocking every spam app notification and invite.
You won’t have to do that with the new changes that is the point of the post.
If there was no intrinsic value in FarmVille, 12 million people would not be playing it every day.
mix the cultural value of professional wrestling with a lead gen scam and you’ve got a typical fb app.
+1 Nail. Head.
As a regular Facebook user, i am VERY happy Facebook has taken all the spammy app notifications out of the news feed and the bottom right notification window.
I dont use pretty much any App’s on facebook, and nothing bothers me more than seeing the app notifications in my news feed from my friends using the apps.
If im not using the app, i don’t want to see or read about it in my stream, regardless of whether or not my friends are using it.
Sounds like progress to me.
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Hey Janinti or Joe/Jim/Sam whatever,
Didn’t get through the last Facebook interview, huh?
Don’t worry, try again next time. By the way, it will help to know how to post links on message board. Who knows, it might even help you with your interview next time.
As a Facebook user, this is a good thing. I generally don’t click on app links and find them annoying.
As I have an app that gets a significant amount of organic traffic through news stream posts, this definitely sucks. It was an incredibly good and natural way to get noticed. I kind of wish they would put limitations or policies around how and when you could utilize the functionality instead of abandoning it all together.
thanks you fb!
for apps, when you rely on SEO or FB or some other company for your traffic, you are beholden to them and need to balance abuse with benefit.
It’s about F’ing time. Thank you FB.
Love this/hate it:
1. Thank god they are removing Farmville, etc from my notifications. That should be a sacred place (it’s the first place everyone checks for things that have happened with any importance. Spam in here is an epic fail. Sorry Pincus..
2. Sending app notifications to my inbox is pointless. Just gives me another reason not to check my Facebook mail, which already has 3,000 unread messages. It’s worthless, this just makes my inbox quarantined from my social media life.
Wow, this just made my day! I was getting a little irritated about all the app spam that was appearing on Facebook!
Thanks Mike for sharing this!
I am more curious about this statement
“And developers are also encouraged to create direct email relationships with users and communicate with them off-Facebook.”
how does this work with Facebook not giving out email addresses or discouraging apps to ask for email address.
Better monitoring of apps and how they track and advertise to friends needs to be addressed.
Also, as I am sure you are aware by now- Live news feed is a little too open. I do not need to know who adds what/or who nor do I want everyone knowing who, what and when I’m doing them. My comments and what I chose to share as well as whom I want to share with should remain my business.
The next time facebook opens our bedroom door so our nieghbors can see what we are doing-at least give us a warning- some of us might want to throw on a bathrobe!
I look forward to this. As I generally only use my phone to check facebook, there has been no way short of going to the website to deal with these notifications, and that’s a real pain.
Well, what’s NOT acceptable is the gosh darn change in the news feed and status update. It sucks and there’s no way to let any of these a$$e$ at fb know that millions of us HATE it. I’m jumping ship the first opportunity to alternative, and it’s not myspace OR twitter (which is just stupid).
it’s really not that different. people like you will be over it in a week or two, just like every other time they’ve changed the site. oh, and the whining does come across as somewhat ungrateful for a free service from which you likely gain a lot of utility. don’t like it, you’re free to go to another site where all of your friends are conveniently located.. oh wait.
This is great. I never used some applications, but got lots of feeds from apps. I couldn’t see what my network was doing.
Just ban Farmtown and Mafia Wars, there goes your spam issue.
Problem solved. Next.
MA, do you have more info about the upcoming changes? it’s impossible to find other info on the net (and i can’t wait)
Also, note that all these changes also affect facebook connect sites. I don’t think facebook wants to reduce the virality of facebook connect or else people will be reluctant to use it.
wait a couple of hours and it will be official.
This is a really good move, and it shows an emphasis on what seems to be Facebook’s primary focus ever since introducing the application platform – becoming the one stop shop for a user’s internet experience. Lofty yes, but slowly turning into a real possibility.
To do that in the most efficient way, you need to make sure the user experience is as efficient as possible and only shows what users want to see. These changes do just that, while at the same time go back to one of the main reasons users choose Facebook over myspace – a clean interface.
They are cleaning up the application platform because it is old and needs to be done. The wild west is Facebook Connect. That’s where the next big round of innovation will come from and lies the greater possibility of monetizing ad capabilities. Facebook knows this.
This is also good thing for developers who are creating quality and useful products. It will enhance their brand value if they survive the initial hit from less exposure on the news feed.
This is also a great way to get app companies to buy ads on Facebook rather than rely on updates or notifications to get new users.
Awesome, I was already considering quitting FB because I got tired of blocking tens of pointless apps every day. Down with “Who’s your next &*^&^*”
Zynga is still allowed to spam, except that it asks the user for permission to publish the ’story’. No longer automated. I found it kinda annoying as well. Don’t want everyone to know that I’ve been playing Farmville all night!
One of the main reasons I don’t use Facebook a lot is because of all the spam I keep geting about these apps. The fact that they’re going to be hidden now is going to be a major benefit. Who knows, I might actually start logging onto the site more than once or twice a month.
Facebook is not catering to users anymore. They are catering to profits. The same spam control a user has for app or page feeds is EXACTLY the same still. You can hide or remove, or even goto settings and block feeds, notifications etc.
What are they doing really?
The overall plan will be to let users get notifications from apps they use and/or their friends use when they want them, but to get them out of the news feed, messages and notifications where they’re spammy.
– this statement is completely false, because the user can AREADY do this. Facebook would rather deteriorate their apps and spend a ton of development money to change something that already works fine, instead of just making users cognoscente of the spam filters and tools already provided.
simple as that.
I’m really glad this is happening. I’ve been running the Greasemonkey script – Facebook Purity to get rid of the annoying personality quizzes and other spam from applications.
I’m finally glad I might not have to resort to such actions.
To all the angry people posting about app spam in stream – you do realize of course that there’s a HIDE button right next to app posts that you can use to hide forever all stream posts from an app?
There has to be a happy medium between flourishing apps and liming the amount of spam. If the apps go away, so will facebook. Apps consistute about 75% of facebook traffic, and facebook makes their money by streaming ads on the right side when people play the apps. Small price to pay for usage of such an amazing on-line community tool.
Nice dream, but each goddamn quiz “Which Feminine Hygiene Spray are You?” needs a separate block-action. This stuff is total shit. The spray may be effective, however.
This is a fantastic change. I can’t possibly be happier, though I think I’ve blocked every app in history so things were starting to get quiet.
Apps like Farmville should build a homepage within their app with its own news feed. When you go to farmville, you can be greeted with a stream of all your neighbors activities within the game. It keeps the spam off the main page, but it still exists in an area where it has value… in the game itself.
OMG, I hid all those stuff in my feed. But now, I have to be “innovative” to find a way to send notification to my users. Those spammy apps are hurting other apps (like mine). Argggg
Anyway, as this thing is good for Facebook users, I hope I will find a good ways for my apps also. Happy innovating Facebook! Cheers
I always feel like I’m in the minority when I use Facebook primarily as a gaming platform
I agree that a lot of social games are polluting the streams and notifications. But at the same time, seeing that a friend got a new Bejeweled high score achievement reminds me to play to log a weekly score.
this will probably lead to a dip in engagement short term.. the spammy notifications lead to far more people trying out (sometimes ridiculous) apps and spending some more time on the site, than to people giving up on facebook because of them…
in the absence of spammy notifications fb needs a new way for users to discover apps.
The honeymoon is over?
Michael – I bet you once this happens, I will write an app that will outperform all the apps in terms of virality. It can be done without spam, and I am announcing it now
By the way, how will notifications appear for apps you have not yet added, under the new solution? How would friends invite their friends?
FB seems to have a pretty good feel of the pulse of their users. I must have heard complaints from a half-dozen friends over the last month re: spammy game updates. Nice work.
I’ll actually miss the occasional “Xy found a lost sheep on his farm” in the news feed ..
+1
Thank god. Those notifications get really irritating after a while.
The app spam from Zynga Poker was pissing me off to no end. With every deletion it asked if i want to NOT post Zynga Poker activity.
It’s bad enough I look like a degenerate gambler to my friends & family, I don’t need really need my FB-connected coworkers telling my boss how much poker I’m playing at work.
As a platform developer, I can appreciate some of the motivation behind these changes. But honestly I think a handful of huge and aggressive developers were 99% of the problem. I don’t think that most folks differentiate between one spammy app and the next, and so apps as a whole just get a black eye every time some farm game spews itself all over your newsfeed. It’s too bad, too, because for the last year I think the various interaction channels on FB (notifications, inbox, feed, invites) were an excellent overall product for users, encompassing several levels of communication flexibility, visibility, privacy and urgency. The problem is that the ecosystem is full of developers who care only about pillaging the platform for all it’s worth to their business, and who feel no long-term investment in keeping Facebook as a whole a good experience. When you only get to rent the cow, your only interest is in milking it as much as possible, I guess. It’s too bad, and I think that the problem will continue, no matter how FB rejiggers the channels. Aggressive developers who know how to exploit user impulses will continue to spam out everyone on Facebook. More reasonable apps that might even be useful will get drowned out by the spam and suffer the most from FB’s inevitable crackdowns.
All this means is that apps that were doing things that were annoying/wrong and profiting from it will no longer be able to. It unfortunately affects even those that weren’t abusing the system though.
And the rogue developers don’t give a s*it. They’ve (including zynga) already made their millions by abusing the system for 2+ years, now they’ll just move on to something else or retire while the honest developers get left in the dust.
Good companies don’t need spam to make their products win.
Finally, thank god. All the notification spam actually puts me off going to Facebook at all sometimes. So glad they’re finally getting these cowboy app developers out of the visual way.
First, let’s stop referring to games as “apps”. Yes, technically they are applications, but they’re largely of the “anti-productivity” variety. Sixty-one million people tending to virtual farms and growing virtual crops? We have plenty of real farms that could use a helping hand producing real food. They’re willing to provide free “farm” labor. Let’s put them to work.
Go ahead, call me an old fart, but you know I’m right.
What we have been seeing on Facebook is not “app” spam but game spam.
Non-developers…try to recall the last time you saw spam in your news feed from a legitimately useful FaceBook application. A loaded question perhaps. Developers all tend to believe their apps are useful. I have yet to discover a truly useful Facebook application beyond the basic communication features of the core Facebook UI.
I’m glad Facebook changed the rules. The developers of these games may be free to make and market whatever they like, and Facebook users may be free to play games, but neither are free to impose upon the rest of us.
I think they’re right to change and evolve their model. Right now, FB is way too “bitty”. This will soon turn people off.
There are some people like me who hate all the add-ons and stuff and left FB because of it.
This will absolutely destroy my apps. I worked for 4 months on an app called “Mr. Weather”… it sends you weather alerts via Facebook notifications.
Gee… thanks Facebook for taking away the ONE thing that is BARELY working for me. Sure glad I spent 4 months and 50k on developing against your f*cking “platform”. I’m so mad about this I can’t even believe it.
You treat your developers like shit.
Well, its sucks for developers but a lot of the spam and questionable marketing practices are annoying and I don’t use apps anyway