Where will Zuckerberg and his Facebook go in 2013?

Summary: In 2013, where will Zuckerberg and his Facebook go? CNET, the American it Web site, today wrote about the five major points of Facebook's 2013-year list, citing the geographic revenue generation, the introduction of Yelp, the consumer review system, and the release of the ad network. To

Where will Zuckerberg and his Facebook go in 2013?

CNET, the American it Web site, today wrote about the five major points of Facebook's 2013-year list, citing the geographic revenue generation, the introduction of Yelp, the consumer review system, and the release of the ad network.

The following is the full text of the article:

Mark Zuckerberg has created the world's largest start-up company, which has a $ more than 5 billion trillion annual income of about $ more than 60 billion trillion, but remains flexible at the start of its creation. Facebook engineers still maintain a fast-paced product and function development, and headquarters is also littered with "rapid development, breaking tradition" posters.

Zuckerberg himself reacted quickly. His well-designed corporate governance structure could even make big decisions without the board's approval, and he did not hesitate to take advantage of it. Facebook's surprise takeover of Instagram this April is a big example.

A major takeover may also be launched in 2013, with the target likely to be the consumer reviews site Yelp, the photo-sharing website Pinterest or other popular startups. But that is not the main direction of Facebook, which is still focused on acquiring small businesses.

Changes have taken place in 2012: Facebook launched a new set of advertising products, the gift service was just on line, and finally completed a takeover of Instagram, which helped it raise huge sums of money. Given these factors, it should be possible to make a rough forecast for next year. Here are five highlights of the company next year:

1. Use geo-location data to generate revenue

As Zuckerberg and his team have repeatedly stated, Facebook is now a mobile company. Facebook mobile advertising, sponsored stories, is evolving, but as Facebook continues to tap its data potential, it will certainly explore more revenue-generating channels beyond advertising.

For example, Facebook can send you coupons for restaurants or stores depending on your location.

Facebook last spring bought a start-up company called Tagtile, whose main business is to develop a membership management program for local businesses: When a user checks out, they can "punch in" on the device the company offers to get points. Facebook has allowed businesses to offer coupons via Facebook offers. Putting that together can push Facebook to move forward, for example, when you're near a business that you're "like", and it can send you a discount.

In fact, Facebook has taken a big step in that direction in mid-December. The company has a dramatic overhaul of the nearby features in iOS and Android devices, showing hotspots in the vicinity based on "praise", check-in and friend referrals. The service has a long way to go, and there are many hurdles to make it work, especially if Facebook starts to work on coupons or promotions, Facebook said in its official blog article announcing the nearby revision.

For example, Facebook might offer you a discount for a "nice" restaurant, but it would be much better if the other person knew when you were hungry or if you had a free meal. But Sham Lessing, the Facebook product director, said in a media interview: "If all the companies that want to touch you can reach you, the user will be unhappy." ”

2. Launch a rating system similar to Yelp

Facebook should buy Yelp, which has a market capitalisation of about 50 times times that of Yelp, so money is not a problem. The logic behind the deal is that Facebook needs a rating service similar to Yelp or TripAdvisor to help it understand what users might be interested in. The revision of the nearby mentioned above is a positive challenge for Yelp and Foursquare.

Like check-in and sharing, Facebook's "Praise" feature also provides useful data. But the company also needs more useful data. The full rating system, like Yelp, will provide more structured data for Facebook.

Also, adding a rating system will help Facebook's ambitions in the search engine market. Facebook appears to be developing such a system and is not prepared to acquire it through acquisitions. Facebook announced in September this year that the company has a team dedicated to search operations. Facebook's social search will surface in 2013.

3. Mining Instagram value

Facebook and Instagram sparked a firestorm at the end of the year: New terms of service plan to forcibly sell photos of Instagram users. The move soon sparked opposition from users and Instagram was forced to commit to change policy.

Even so, Facebook can still survive the crisis. Even if there are millions of user churn--flickr and other services are struggling to compete for users--but it may still be easy for users over 100 million Instagram.

With Instagram growth unusually fast, there has been little talk about its staggering acquisition price, which has shrunk by 285 million of dollars as Facebook's share price has fallen. The deal is strategically meaningful for Facebook to help develop its mobile business.

Instagram will also be an important source of revenue for Facebook, even if it does not sell the photos to advertisers. After adjusting for the policy, the company is now consolidating data collected through the Instagram and Facebook platforms. As a result, Facebook is sure to introduce revenue-generating measures in the future.

The most obvious is advertising. Facebook needs to be careful to avoid annoying users. Analysts expect Facebook to generate a maximum of $700 million trillion Instagram for the next 3 years, a plan that could be deployed from 2013 onwards. It's not clear what type of advertising Facebook will use, but it should not encroach on your mobile screen.

Another possible way is to sell Shutterfly-style products and services. The company also has the potential to tap into your Instagram activities to offer targeted offers or advertisements on Facebook.

For example, if you take a photo at a ski resort, Facebook may send you a discount or a rebate for a ski resorts. This is a simple example, but it highlights how Instagram can help Facebook personalize the platform so that it gets a higher profit without controversy.

4, Facebook Ads everywhere

It seems a bit old, but it's really important. Facebook is likely to launch an ad network to help companies issue Facebook ADS-which may be phased out or step.

The industry has been discussing the matter for a long time, but Facebook's financial pressure is growing and the pressure of 2013 will be further underscored. Facebook has docked to many sites via the Facebook Connect Universal login service, and the Facebook database expands a bit whenever someone shares or "praises" a content on a website. Facebook can integrate these data with the internal "social Atlas" data, creating a social advertising network that competes with Google AdSense.

They have begun to work in this direction, although Facebook has just stopped testing mobile ad networks and is no longer advertising on third-party apps or mobile websites. But the company is sure to restart the program soon. Don't forget, there are reports that Facebook is talking to Microsoft about the acquisition of the Atlas advertising platform, which will help advertisers buy and manage full web advertising.

Facebook executives have been tight-lipped about this, but there is a need to expand their business without disrupting their own business. Third-party advertising networks will become a business worth billions of of dollars.

"This is clearly an important opportunity, and they must have begun to prepare for it." "The launch of the platform is only a matter of time, and the key is to address privacy issues," said Colin Sebastian, Colin Sebastian of the US investment Bank, Robert W. Baird & Co. When users see Facebook ads on other sites, they are sure to be alert immediately, but the mood is easing. ”

As a result, Facebook is likely to hit a wall again on privacy issues.

5. Facebook Shopping Network

The Facebook Gifts Gift service, launched this fall, marks a significant step in Facebook's business sector.

Facebook is not ready to challenge Amazon's core business, and big companies like Wal-Mart don't need the traffic that Facebook has to deliver, so they obviously won't pay for it. But small and medium-sized enterprises may see this as a rare opportunity, even if only a very small number of users use the gifts service, given the large user base of 1 billion, the total will be very large.

This is one of Facebook's smartest moves of the year, and 2013 's development will confirm this, especially after Facebook has launched a global gifts. By the end of 2013, most of the gift services will be done via Facebook's mobile apps. The biggest advantage of the service is that it's not advertising. Still, when users see the phone screen getting messy, I'm afraid I'll get bored.