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Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

techcrunch.com

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Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#51

Post by onetimemanytime »

Facebook: The Last Chapter

They're becoming Yahoo...they need insane qtr to qtr growth or else its stock gets smashed, and takes everything else with it. Who wants to work for a has-been?

Google escaped it by adding ads virtually on 100% of the page and added ads one by one on mobile pages and didn't do them much harm. How many ads are now on mobile, 4 or 5? Google still can monetize Maps and Translate and people are doing more of their stuff online.

I guess FB can add more ads but "everyone" has or had FB so adding new users is a challenge. Not sure how Whatsapp can be monetized, in a way that is worth trying.

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#52

Post by cc439 »

laythea wrote: post #22

I think this is facebook getting scared of regulation and so thinking that if facebook's "features" get adopted more so, then they can be pinpointed by authorities less. My thoughts only.

This announcement comes just days after FB hired a crack team of anti-trust defense lawyers, of course it's a move to defend against potential regulation/litigation. I'm not saying their defense team caused this change either, just that there this fits a pattern that shows FB's leadership is very concerned about potential government action against them.

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#55

Post by Spivak »

cma wrote: post #19
blatherard wrote: post #3

> The move will significantly reduce the risk of building on the Facebook platform. What's to stop them from reversing the policy change? Once bitten, twice shy.

They put an enforceable promise in there that they wouldn't do that. Wait no, they could have but didn't.

Why would a company ever impose binding restrictions on itself?

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#56

Post by Benjammer »

mehblahwhatevs wrote: post #15
subdane wrote: post #13

Reminded of this Chamath quote attributed to Bill Gates in an interview with Semil Shah about Facebook's platform. "I remember when we raised money from Bill Gates...and Gates said something along the lines of, 'That’s a crock of shit. This isn’t a platform. A platform is when the economic value of everybody that uses it, exceeds the value of the company that creates it. Then it’s a platform.'" http://haystack.vc/201…

> "I remember when we raised money from Bill Gates...and Gates said something along the lines of, 'That’s a crock of shit. This isn’t a platform. A platform is when the economic value of everybody that uses it, exceeds the value of the company that creates it. Then it’s a platform.'" Interesting. But Facebook's platform != Facebook, so I don't understand the maxim that "the value of everybody that uses the platform m…

I believe this use of the word "platform" in this context is a much more specific meaning where it's a counterpoint to the idea of an "aggregator." It comes up in discussions about modern large tech companies being "aggregators" or "platforms," and this is the point (allegedly) Gates is making here, that Facebook is much more an aggregator of content that users bring into the walled garden than they are an economic platform for other businesses, which is what Microsoft was/is.

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#58

Post by function_seven »

Spivak wrote: post #55
cma wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They put an enforceable promise in there that they wouldn't do that. Wait no, they could have but didn't.

Why would a company ever impose binding restrictions on itself?

When they’ve already burned their reputation and need to convince portential partners that they won’t do it again.

I can’t think of any real world examples, though. So this is all hypothetical.

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#59

Post by tw04 »

Justin_K wrote: post #57

Anybody that builds an app on a "platform" that can be taken away overnight is a fool. Facebook has made it clear that if they want to change a policy, they could care less about your "business".

So literally everyone using a hosted service of any sort?

Re: Facebook ends platform policy banning apps that copy its features

#60

Post by kennxfl »

Spivak wrote: post #55
cma wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They put an enforceable promise in there that they wouldn't do that. Wait no, they could have but didn't.

Why would a company ever impose binding restrictions on itself?

It's a PR move. Probably proposed by one of many third party agencies that Sandberg 'wasn't aware of but takes full responsibility for'.
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