Facebook testing app bookmarks in mobile news feed

Facebook is trialing bookmarks for third-party applications in its mobile news feed, a move to increase user engagement and attract developers to the social networking giant's fledgling Facebook Platform mobile initiative.

TechCrunch reports that Facebook previously buried HTML5 app bookmarks at the bottom of the mobile site's pull-out navigation menu, while only showing them in the search bar of its native apps for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. Facebook has touted bookmarks as a critical driver for re-engagement with apps--late last year, the company began trialing aggregated game-related stories in its mobile news feed in an effort to drive traffic from smartphones and tablets.

"Gamers and non-gamers alike will see stories for the games their friends are playing the most," Facebook product manager Namita Gupta wrote on the Facebook Developer Blog in December. "As we gather user and developer feedback from this test, we'll continue to iterate on the feature as we focus on making feed a strong acquisition channel for developers."

With more than 425 million users worldwide accessing its social networking services via mobile device each month, Facebook recently expanded its Facebook Platform APIs and developer tools to iOS, Android and the mobile web. According to Facebook, the move represents a significant step towards enhancing mobile interactions, introducing a series of social channels designed to galvanize app discovery and distribution. The browser-based HTML5 platform effectively circumvents Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market, as well as associated developer fees.

"With recent additions to the Facebook platform, you can now share with friends what it is that you are doing but essentially what you are doing is advertising the content provider of your activity," ABI Research senior analyst George Kraev writes on the firm's blog. "So how valuable do you think that is? I'd say extremely and the advertising industry knows that. In fact, it is no secret that recommendations from friends are one of the most effective advertisements that you can ever get and word of mouth is the Mecca of the advertising business... Facebook has the means of charging companies based on word of mouth advertising. You share a company's name with your friends, Facebook gets money. You add an application to your favorites, Facebook gets even more money. And you as the user, never get to see any annoying banners and yet you are the driving force behind the largest advertising agency in the world."

Last week, Facebook filed paperwork for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating it plans to raise $5 billion. "We are devoting substantial resources to developing engaging mobile products and experiences for a wide range of platforms, including smartphones and feature phones," Facebook wrote in its filing. "In addition, we are working across the mobile industry with operators, hardware manufacturers, operating system providers, and developers to improve the Facebook experience on mobile devices and make Facebook available to more people around the world. We believe that mobile usage is critical to maintaining user growth and engagement over the long term."

For more:
- read this TechCrunch article
- read this ABI Research blog entry

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