open graph

Internet retailers miss opportunities by not using Facebook login, Sociable Labs says

interface, Marketing, Your Brand 215 Responses »

Sep 132012

Only 30 of the top 500 Internet retailers offer Facebook login as a registration option for their sites, according to research by social commerce software company Sociable Labs.

That’s only 6 percent of the top online retailers making use of a feature the social network launched in 2008. Sociable Labs says it’s not because Facebook login isn’t useful. The option simplifies account creation, eliminates the need for another password, allows companies to better personalize their sites and collect richer CRM data, in addition to increasing referral traffic from the social network. Sociable Labs says the problem comes down to technical barriers, perceived security concerns and, in general, lack of priority among online retailers that have another registration system in place.

MORE: Internet retailers miss opportunities by not using Facebook login, Sociable Labs says.

Facebook users are sharing 1B stories from Open Graph apps per day; Zuckerberg discusses options for future monetization

Internet News 382 Responses »

Jul 272012

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today that more than 1 billion stories are being shared from Open Graph apps per day.

Open Graph apps are those that share users’ actions, such as reading, watching, listening and other custom activities to Timeline, Ticker and News Feed. These were first introduced in September 2011, but only began to be widely developed and used as of January 2012, when the social network began approving third-party integrations.

Open Graph is an important aspect of Facebook’s growing platform, which Zuckerberg repeatedly referred to as being core to the social network’s strategy. The CEO also said that Facebook’s vision for the platform is “bigger than most people perceive.” He urged investors not to think about the platform as being solely about games on Facebook.com, even though that is the vast majority of the company’s $192-million payments business. Zuckerberg believes his platform will actually extend beyond the web itself. He talked about the future possibility of buying a new car, logging in with Facebook, and having the car populate with your favorite music, your friends’ addresses, restaurants you like and stores your friends have been to.

MORE: Facebook users are sharing 1B stories from Open Graph apps per day; Zuckerberg discusses options for future monetization.

Facebook pages now show top related articles and videos based on users’ Open Graph activity

interface, Internet News 482 Responses »

Jul 112012

Page owners and fans can now view the most popular videos and news articles about a topic by visiting the brand or public figure’s Facebook page.

In the “posts by others” view of Timeline, some pages have “news” and/or “video” modules that shows what users have been reading and watching in Open Graph-integrated apps like Socialcam, Washington Post Social Reader, ESPN, Hulu and others. It’s unclear when Facebook added these modules to pages’ Timelines, but with more media apps integrating Open Graph and more people using them, the data here is increasingly valuable.

MORE: Facebook pages now show top related articles and videos based on users’ Open Graph activity.

Facebook testing ‘Want’ button plugin

interface, Internet News 339 Responses »

Jul 022012

Facebook appears to be testing a new “Want” button plugin similar to its popular Like button.

Developer Tom Waddington from Cut Out + Keep discovered that a Want button has been added to the Facebook Javascript SDK as an XFBML tag – <fb:wants>. The button is not publicly listed among the other social plugins on Facebook’s developer site. Waddington says the button will only work on Open Graph objects marked as “products.”

With Open Graph, developers have been able to create their own “want” actions, but users have to authorize a third-party app in order for those buttons to generate stories on Timeline and News Feed. If the Want button plugin works similarly to the Like button, users will not have to go through the step of authorizing an app. This means even more users will be likely to click it.

MORE: Facebook testing ‘Want’ button plugin.

Facebook gives Like button functionality to third-party mobile and web app buttons

Internet News, Web Design 432 Responses »

Jun 222012

Facebook announced today that developers will be able to add a new Open Graph-enabled Like action to their apps so that users can easily share content back on Facebook.

Mobile and web app developers can now build custom buttons that function similarly to Facebook’s traditional Like button. For example, Instagram and Foursquare use hearts in their mobile apps. Now instead of those actions being seen within the app only, they can be published to Facebook without any additional steps. Further, when a user Likes their friend’s photo or story using the new Like action, the friend will receive a Facebook notification about it. This feature could help increase discovery and engagement of apps that integrate Open Graph.

MORE: Facebook gives Like button functionality to third-party mobile and web app buttons.