Facebook News Roundup

Written by Nicole Ferraro

Friday, November 2. 2007 at 01:30 PM EDT Post a comment

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It's that time of week again where we update you on what's been happenin' on Facebook: The book for people with faces. In addition to Google's debut of its Facebook rival, OpenSocial, there was the exciting launch of AdBrite's Facebook App Channel on Tuesday; meanwhile, Facebook has made the news with talk of Qloud's rise to stardom; there were more rumors about the Facebook music service; and AdMob is now managing Facebook's mobile advertising sales. 

OpenSocial: The end of Facebook? Nah: Google unleashed its beast this week in an attempt to finally dominate the social networking scene. OpenSocial, a new web API, allows for app developers to create one set of code and run their applications across several platforms. App developers on Facebook have to write code in FBML and FQL and are, in turn, bound by love to Facebook and Facebook only.

With OpenSocial, app developers can enter into polygamous relations with multiple social networking sites and have their applications reach a wider assortment of users. While this is great news for the app developers, what will come of Facebook? As of this morning, the team of 12, headed by Google, was joined by MySpace and Bebo. Will Facebook be forced to surrender to the Google gods and join the OpenSocial crowd, or will it continue to seek triumph as a party o' one?

Qloud gets a million friends: I reviewed Qloud's My Music, along with some other third-party music services, a couple of weeks ago. Since its debut three months ago, My Music has attracted over a million Facebook users which means one of two things: Over a million people disagree with my lack of appreciation for music videos; or, anytime iTunes is involved, everyone goes wild. (Does iLike ring a bell?)

More whispers about Facebook Music: Wired uncovered some news regarding Facebook's impending music service. Apparently, one of the guys in the technology department at Warner Bros. Records posted a quick note on his blog's message board seeking a Facebook app developer for a "rush job." This calls for a finger to the lip and a long, drawn-out "hmmmm..."

Facebook joins the mob: The AdMob, that is! (HAHAHA!) This week, AdMob launched the first mobile Facebook platform and will manage advertising on third-party applications for the mobile web. Another service wanting to put ads on my phone? Christmas has come early, once again.