Much has been published in the last couple of weeks about the “low” click through rates (CTRs) for Facebook advertisements.  For example, in a January 31 blog post, Chitika compared Google and Facebook CTRs for text-based ads, and found that Google outpaced Facebook results by almost nine to one. Chitika’s study further revealed that Facebook CTRs are just 0.08% (Google’s average is [...]

Social Media the Buzz Word of 2010! Social media has become the buzz phrase and number one activity on the web today. It is changing rapidly and taking over the world by storm. Social media provides you a platform which gives power in customer’s hands where they get the stronger say. Why Do You Need Social Media? Here is why! In 2010, companies seriously invested in social media and many [...]

Now that Disney has made two major acquisitions in the social gaming arena within the space of one month, perhaps it’s time to take the phenomenon seriously. The multinational entertainment giant’s move into social gaming began in 2007 when Disney bought Club Penguin, a kids social network, for $350M.  It followed that up by purchasing Wideload Games (whose founder was behind the creation of [...]

With 62% of Facebook gamers returning to play multiple times on a daily basis, the astonishing popularity of online social gaming rolls on. Bloomberg Businessweek reported that statistic in June of this year. They also reported that current estimates put the "virtual goods" market at about $1.6 billion in 2010. If that number doesn't excite gaming applications developers, nothing will. Social [...]

Social media games are definitely the latest craze with Facebook taking the lead by far. For this reason, many companies are hoping to capitalize upon the popularity of Facebook games by creating their own games that could gain viral attention. So what is the key to creating a successful Facebook game? Michael Thornton Wyman of Big Splash Games feels that to create an attractive and highly [...]

The director of Smokin' Aces and Narc brings you back into the adrenaline-pumping world of blood, bullets and badasses. Packed with insane mercenaries, sexy assassins and more of the fan-favorite Tremor family, this all-new explosive film tells the story of a low-level FBI agent with a high price on his head. May the best hit man survive! Avenue Social was commissioned to bring this super [...]

In our last blog about Social Game Design, we discussed some principles that are prevalent across good proper Social Game Design. Today we will continue defining design drivers, elaborating on each, as devised by Aki Järvinen of mygamestudies.com Symbolic Physicality Adds Depth to Interactions Poking, drinking beer in apps such as "Pass a Drink', Hi-Fiving, and other forms of online interactions [...]

In the last post we discussed the emergence of the social gaming industry and its catalysts. In this article, we discuss social game design more in details and how developers can tap into human psychology to increase the fun aspect of the game while taking full advantage of social channels. Create a Playful Game Quality Playful, game-like qualities are critical in creating a playful mood [...]

Social games, games that are playable within social websites such as Facebook and MySpace, are on a path to revolutionize the gaming industry, a similar feat attempted by downloadable casual games that seems to be hindered by the aforementioned titan. They spread like pandemics and can actually be fun. It´s no surprise then that this industry has attracted much investment dollars, 98 million [...]

Its true that social game developers spend millions on facebook advertisements, likewise there must be a reason why they spent so much. Facebook may be generating significant revenues from these application developers spending on ads but it is without a doubt how beneficial the advertisements become as a resultant and help boost application developers business in the long run. It is no surprise [...]