Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In the latest effort to make more money, Facebook Inc unveiled the new App Center – a new hub for consumers to find games and other applications on the social networking site.
The move comes in wake of the slowing revenue growth, due to the widening trend of consumers accessing its service on smartphones, where Facebook provides limited ads.
The App Center, which will be launched in the next few weeks, will, for the first time, allow software developers to sell apps to consumers directly on Facebook.
The App Center will feature apps designed for PCs as well as for mobile devices such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhones and Android smartphones. In case a mobile app requires installation for the mobile device, the user will be directed to Apple's App Store or Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Play store to download the app, Facebook said.
The App Center will showcase apps based on the quality scores that users give apps and other data Facebook collects, such as how often and how long people use apps. Each user will see a different, customized version of the App Center, rather than one standard version of the App Center.
Consumers will need to use Facebook Credits, the company's payment system, to purchase the apps and Facebook will take a 30 percent cut of the revenue as it does with in-app purchases.
The move comes as Facebook Inc is preparing an initial public offering that would value the company between $77 billion and $96 billion.
First Published: Thursday, May 10, 2012, 09:57