Isn't that what RockMelt is trying to be? I know it isn't developed by Facebook, but with integrations like notifications, friends, chat, etc, it basically is the Facebook browser.
Yes, and I believe Facebook is an investor in Rockmelt.
Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
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Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#22It would be everyone's worst nightmare - a nice shot across the bow of the open web.
Yeah.. maybe they could team up not only with Bing, but they could revive IE 6. Perhaps even get Active X back in circulation. In just a few short years we can pull the web back into the dark ages. I would likely code all of my pages specifically to display a blue screen if the visitor were using an FB browser. If enough people did that, any Facebook spyware-laced browser would die on the vine.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#23Isn't that what RockMelt is trying to be? I know it isn't developed by Facebook, but with integrations like notifications, friends, chat, etc, it basically is the Facebook browser.
Yes, and I believe Facebook is an investor in Rockmelt.
Rock who?
Exactly. Facebook wasted their investment. That browser will never get above 5% usage. It would be like Camino.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#24I think a Facebook search engine would be Google's worst nightmare. Nothing else directly challenges their top-line revenue.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#25I feel it will have about as much impact as the AOL browser or "Explorer from Yahoo" had.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#26Facebook can make a web browser - or just acquire RockMelt, with which it has worked in the past. Rockmelt is based on Chromium, so FB won't have to take care of the browser basics, similar to how Amazon has forked Android for Kindle Fire. But, a Facebook ad network available off-site will be more interesting. I don't have experience with FB ads but social ads as imagined by OP seem interesting.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#27Imagine that, within a year, a modest 25% of Facebook users use their browser. That would equate to about 200M users
The reasoning is backwards. Converting 200 million users to a new browser is not a trivial task. In what way would a facebook browser allow people to better access facebook?
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#28"Imagine that, within a year, a modest 25% of Facebook users use their browser. That would equate to about 200M users; all of which are using their search."
I'd be willing to bet that a significant percentage of Facebook's users don't know what a browser is. They fire up Internet Explorer and are blissfully unaware that there are alternatives. This has been my experience with non-techies.
Those who do know what a browser is are likely to have Chrome, Firefox or Opera installed and probably see no personal benefit in downloading yet another browser. They are also unlikely to want to have Facebook invading their privacy even more.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#29"As Facebook becomes the social platform of the internet, a custom browser is the next logical step." You'll need to explain that, because I don't think it's a logical step at all. The remainder of the article presents some benefits, but mentioning those does not make for a clear argument for why facebook should attempt to compete with their own browser.
Benefits for Facebook, yes. Benefits for the user? Thin at best.
Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare
#30All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…
The adoption rate for Facebook Browser or even toolbar will be very insignificant. Why?
Majority of Facebook users (35 - 45 yr old females and older) are not the crowd who like to install or capable of installing a new browser or even a new Firefox or Chrome toolbar without the help of GeekSquad or their nerdy nephew.
The other majority are tech users who are already on Firefox or Chrome and the last thing they want is another browser or let Facebook monitor all the websites they are visiting (although this is already happening in some levels)