Facebook games offer Google innovation lesson

Filed under: Innovation

Facebook is now the most visited website in the United States after it surpassed Google.com for an entire week according to web analytics firm Hitwise.

Even the most established technology firms are facing innovation challenges. Hitwise said the market share of visits to Facebook increased 185% compared with the same week in 2009 versus just a 9% comparable growth for Google.
Google is clearly being challenged for online utility but what is the cause behind the dramatic differences in adoption over the past year?

Somewhat surprisingly the reason for the popularity leap for Facebook is not social communication but social games. For example Farmville has over 83 million players on Facebook, Texas Hold-Em poker has 28 million players and Happy Aquarium has 26 million users.

Apparently Internet users would rather spend time paying virtual currencies for seeds and animals than searching for new information. But there is also considerable opportunities to purchase virtual currencies in these games with real world capital. After all the discussion about how Facebook or Twitter might develop a feasible business model the immediate answer seems to be in a well-established online business model pioneered by Massive Multiplayer Gaming Platforms like World of Warcraft.

For certain organisations it is prudent to consider integrating simple community networked games with low cost of development as a means of engaging users. It is another potential piece of the innovation puzzle but one that has caught Google watching instead of doing.