Seriously? Ads? • Hacker News Board

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#61

Post by fusiongyro » Wed, May 30, 2012, 1:59 PM UTC

timharding wrote: post #39

I think that "be a payment provider" is a much easier thing to think than it is to do. While it may be easy to build the customer side of the equation you've got to build a vast network of merchants willing to accept payment and that's hard work. Especially if you're trying to convince them to re-price in Facebook Credits? Sure, you could charge 1% but people have added credits to their Facebook account at some point…

There are reasons for and against pursuing this particular niche, but I think Boris is really onto something. Selling ads is a safe bet, but FB really could wager a billion dollar fee to enter a new market. There must be markets where entering the field with a billion signed up users and a billion in capital will work, even if this isn't the perfect example.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#62

Post by roguecoder » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:01 PM UTC

msy wrote: post #10

Why not, it worked out so well for Google with their deep search history, world-beating teams of big data specialists, deep pockets and massive Gmail/Gapps userbase... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-21/google-said-to-reth...

Google failed at implementing Facebook too.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#63

Post by eli » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:01 PM UTC

Akram wrote: post #34

msy wrote: post #10

Why not, it worked out so well for Google with their deep search history, world-beating teams of big data specialists, deep pockets and massive Gmail/Gapps userbase... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-21/google-said-to-reth...

Well, Google is also struggling with Social. It doesn't mean that if Google checkout failed no one else can do anything good.

I think the point being made is that simply having a strong brand and bright engineers does not mean you can solve any problem you try to tackle.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#64

Post by roguecoder » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:04 PM UTC

It's worked well for Walmart (well, okay, aside from the whole "bribing people in Mexico" thing.) But people seem willing, and even eager, to bank with companies they know and trust.

The real problem is regulation. It is so, so much easier to sell ads than to navigate the international financial markets.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#65

Post by pajju » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:06 PM UTC

Its not possible to solve for everyone, the whole of web-communities !

Nerds and Geeks never trust facebook, but their moms and sisters do !

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#66

Post by bookwormAT » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:06 PM UTC

There is no way facebook has a billion active users. Official numbers are always very optimistic.

For example, a lot of brands and agencies register many,many pages on facebook, and even post content there. And Britney Spears is not really on Facebook, she just has someone have post stuff for her.

I'm sure Facebook is huge. But if they say a billion, it is probably closer to 500m.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#67

Post by SonicSoul » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:07 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #21

Are online payments such a big unsolved problem? It takes me all of 10 seconds to type my CC number and associated security codes. Sites that I use a lot tend to allow subsequent purchases without re-entering them anyway. If everyone's facebook account has CC details attached and a 1 click "pay now" button you are only 1 XSS vulnerability from fraud on an unprecedented scale.

Credit cards suck for many reasons other than just convenience of use. Credit card companies are big cartels with hefty fees to retailers, slow and unpredictable turnaround between when a payment is made, and when it gets to retailers bank, and infrastructure that's not well suited for micro payments, or peer to peer payments.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_futureofmoney/all/1

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#68

Post by truncate » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:09 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #22

darkstalker wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if I refuse to use facebook, would be unable to pay?

It's in a companies interest to make sure that there is a way to give them money, they are unlikely to want to throw away good customers just because they don't have a FB account. What I would expect to see however is discounts offered if you use FB payments and allow your purchases to be automatically shared with your friends.

    allow your purchases to be automatically shared with your friends.

This is one of the creepiest feature one can get. I already hate these social readers which automatically share what you read (I've stop reading stuff on FB because of that, even if many of them are of my interest). However I'm hoping they would provide some reasonable privacy options with that.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#69

Post by pistoriusp » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:10 PM UTC

I agree with most of this article, except, if I was Facebook I would bill via the mobile networks.

Not really viable on the desktop, but certainly on phones.

There's no reason that I can think of why I can't be identified by my own mobile network and either charged at the end of the month or via my airtime.

Re: Seriously? Ads?

#70

Post by djeikyb » Wed, May 30, 2012, 2:12 PM UTC

Adirael wrote: post #58

TillE wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Standard" debit cards aren't really standard outside the US either. Maestro (chip + PIN) doesn't work online, for example.

My VISA (chip + PIN) works without any problems for online purchases. Some sites even transfer me to my bank's payment gateway that sends me an SMS with a number in order to be able to pay. I don't have a credit card. I know a lot of people who does but rarely uses them, debit cards feel more secure than credit cards against theft/fraud (and I'm not really sure if they are, I don't think so).

I'm intrigued. What bank does that?