Facebook Apps Have Fans, Need Money

Companies figure out how to profit from widgets
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2008 10:32 AM CDT
Facebook Apps Have Fans, Need Money
The facebook logo is reflected in an eyeball in this file photo.   (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Facebook widgets have been wildly popular, but they haven’t always been wildly profitable. “The fascinating thing about widgets is it turns out that distribution isn't really the challenge,” says the CEO of VideoEgg, the developer behind Scrabulous and Flixster. "The question is how do you monetize that attention?” VideoEgg and companies like it think they have the answer, BusinessWeek reports: advertising.

Advertisers plan to spend $1.4 billion for marketing on social networking sites. VideoEgg's execs say the company can claim $1.5 million of that, advertising both on its page and within applications. Other widgets, which let friends recommend books and movies to each other, link to Amazon for a percentage of the sale. (More Facebook stories.)

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