Facebook’s move to start charging developers $375 to certify applications struck Michael Arrington of TechCrunch as a bid to shore up lagging revenue. It’s not clear how much money we’re talking about — there are currently about 48,000 apps available to Facebook members. Facebook itself estimates that 10% of applications will wind up being certified — meaning Facebook would collect about $1.8 million in fees.
Even if half of the applications submit for certification (Arrington’s optimistic estimate), that would mean $9 million — minus, of course, the cost of the time it takes Facebook developers to QA the apps to make sure they are up to network standards. This is not a huge sum for a company that expects to make $50 million to $60 million selling imaginary shoes, phantom martinis, pixilated birthday cakes and other virtual gifts this year.
So if they’re not in it for the cash, what’s the point of Facebook’s “Verified Apps” scheme? (read more…)
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