Facebook introducing “want” button

Facebook has recently decided to test out a new function that would allow users to share and even buy items off of the website.  The function, a simple “want” button on Facebook advertisement, would allow advertisers a chance to tap into the endless depths of Facebook’s billion+ users (or at least a portion of them).

I’ve been waiting for a move like this for a long time, Facebook has been overvalued for far too long, spiking up to a valuation of around $104 billion before its IPO.  Facebook has so much influence that to scare away investors with ludicrous claims like that is doing nobody any good.  What Facebook needs to do is embrace this new idea and implement it in a way that makes people want to click want on things they really want, there needs to be an incentive to click otherwise it will go disregarded like advertisements now, but not one that makes people want to click everything.  Maybe you would get a limited amount of wants a day and by wanting something you accumulate points towards rewards.  The amount of points could also be based on how many others want it, which would encourage you to tell your friends.  Just a little idea, but a good step in the right direction.

Google makes first foray into credit business

Google took a staggering step forward Monday as it announced the launch of its credit business for the first time.  The business will be used to finance purchases of its online advertising, offering customers between $200 to $100,000 a month to pay for Adwords.

Preceded by Amazon a week ago, this step signals a new era in online competition as companies fight to secure new business.  The problem Google’s treasurer, Brent Callinicos, seems to think exists is that small businesses don’t have the financial capital to be able to risk expanding themselves online online.  What Google is doing is giving these small businesses a chance to extend a little bit with less risk than traditional banks might offer (due to their low interest rates), while actively securing their business by controlling their loans.

It seems these internet moguls are now getting to a point where they’re starting to act like banks, which is a scary thought when you think of the average life span of these kind of businesses.  I think that the dotcom industry still has a long way to go in proving that they can stay solid before I would open up a line of credit with them.

Samsung VS Apple

Samsung and Apple were making big news recently with Samsung’s loss to Apple in a patent lawsuit concerning 8 of Samsung’s “Iphone like” smartphones, including the Samsung S2, which infringed upon Apple owned patents,  The total in consolation money that Samsung was forced to pay Apple came to a staggering $1.05 billion that surely rocked the Korean giant, however clearly not as hard as Apple might have intended.

It seems that in the aftermath of the lawsuit sales for Samsung’s new Galaxy S3 smartphone have actually bounced upwards to even outsell the Iphone in certain places.  While this might not exactly account for a re-compensation of the money Samsung lost to Apple in the lawsuit (or anything close to it) it does speak for something about the company itself.

I think Chowdry’s analysis of Samsung consumers simply wanting to buy it up with expectations of it becoming unavailable falls short in that it doesn’t address the underlying principles that are making people do this.  People are showing that they are able to differentiate Samsung smartphones on a very noticeable level by acting in this way, which tells me that while Samsung’s smartphone business might have taken a blow, the brand still rides strong.