developers | Internet Marketing Blog

Can third parties fix Android app payments?

By almost every reasonable measurement, Google's Android OS is giving Apple a reason to check the rear-view mirror. But for many developers, developing for Android is still somewhat unattractive because the common wisdom is that successful Android apps are likely to generate far less revenue than successful iPhone/iPad apps.

One of the possible reasons: paid Android apps are sold through Google Checkout, which Android critics argue offers a far less pleasant experience than the App Store purchasing experience offers iPhone and iPad owners.

by Patricio Robles 03 June 2010 13:59pm 0 comments

Facebook versus Twitter: who does the bait and switch better?

What happens when Web 2.0 startups founded on principles of openness and freedom grow up? If we're referring to Facebook and Twitter, the answer is obvious: get a business model.

Unfortunately, finding a business model and implementing it successfully can be hard to do, especially when you previously invited third party developers to your 'open' platform and told them to keep the change. So it's really no surprise that Facebook and Twitter, which have collectively raised north of three-quarters of a billion dollars in financing, are finding it necessary to pull the good old bait and switch on developers.

by Patricio Robles 26 May 2010 11:29am 4 comments

MasterCard courts developers, but should it?

Online payments behemoth PayPal thinks developers are key in its quest for world domination. Late last year, it launched a portfolio of new APIs that PayPal hopes will give developers the ability to create applications that extend PayPal's footprint into markets in which it believes its payment solutions could be better utilized.

But if the credit card associations have their way, PayPal will have to compete for the best developers.

by Patricio Robles 26 May 2010 09:11am 0 comments

Twitter crackdown: No third party ads allowed.

Twitter spent most of 2009 reiterating the fact that it was not focused on monetization. And its current monetization strategy is proof of that fact. Throughout its explosive growth last year, Twitter allowed swarms of developers to release products that built on Twitter's existing features. Now Twitter wants to be the one profiting from its popularity. And those developers are out in the cold.

The company today announced that it will shortly ban all third party ad platforms from Twitter. If developers weren't already fleeing from the service, they'll go running now.

by Meghan Keane 24 May 2010 18:45pm 2 comments

The top seven Facebook tools for publishers

Facebook may increasingly be on the receiving end of criticism related to its stance on privacy, but the world's largest social network is still one of the top places to reach consumers online.

With more than 400m registered users globally, Facebook is the world's largest social network, and publishers looking to stay connected with their users and acquire new users have plenty of Facebook tools at their disposal to do just that. Here are seven of them.

by Patricio Robles 14 May 2010 10:46am 3 comments

Just as companies abandon Flash, Adobe turns to HTML5

HTML5 is coming, and a growing number of companies are trying to kick the Flash habit, even if on a limited basis. The latest: popular online document sharing service Scribd.

According to the startup's CTO, "We are scrapping three years of Flash development and betting the company on HTML5 because we believe HTML5 is a dramatically better reading experience than Flash."

by Patricio Robles 06 May 2010 09:08am 5 comments

Facebook's next trick: become the web

Facebook isn't just a social network. By almost every reasonable standard, it is officially the winner of the social networking wars. While other popular social networks, including MySpace, may not disappear into the void completely, Facebook has left them in the dust.

But the war to become the world's dominant online social network is just one battle in a larger war that seeks to shape the future of the web. And Facebook is gearing up for battle.

by Patricio Robles 22 April 2010 09:01am 10 comments

Steve Jobs will kill the goose that laid the golden egg

The iPhone OS 4 SDK was released last week, but it's not all good news for iPhone (and iPad) developers. That's because Section 3.3.1 of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement comes with a new catch:

Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.

by Patricio Robles 13 April 2010 14:46pm 5 comments

Angry developers are better for Twitter than lost business

Twitter sparked quite the controversy last week when news leaked that the microblogging service would possibly eliminate the need for many the third party features that have sprung up to support the service.

The company has been historically open to developers building on its platform, letting third parties take care of everything from analytics to mobile apps and photo and video sharing. But that is all set to change soon.

And let this be a lesson. Promises made by a startup aren't always the kind that can be kept. Especially when they are only implied.

by Meghan Keane 12 April 2010 20:32pm 0 comments

Is Twitter going to pull a bait and switch on developers?

Fred Wilson, a well-known venture capitalist whose firm has invested in Twitter, published a blog post earlier this week that raised eyebrows amongst third party developers who develop on the Twitter platform.

The reason? It sent an ominous message to many of them: Twitter might put you out of business soon.

by Patricio Robles 09 April 2010 10:31am 5 comments