By Tim Worstall, Contributor There’s a many advantages to starting a business that relies upon the Facebook platform: near 1 billion users of it just as a start. It’s also a social network (well, D’Oh!) so take up can be impressively rapid. However, there’s also a problem with basing oneself on Facebook: which is that it is indeed a platform. And they’re trying to monetise that platform just as fast as you are. And as the WSJ reports, if your app is taking traffic or business away from one of their apps then, well, you’re just outta luck: Vintage Camera, which competes with Facebook’s Instagram app, is one of a growing number of third-party apps that have been blocked by the social network recently. Now of course Facebook doesn’t give that competition as the reason for the blocking. But there is something of a pattern developing: Developers say the crackdown is an attempt to stifle applications that compete with Facebook-owned services or part of an effort to get developers to pay for ads on Facebook. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest