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(Image source: VentureBeat)
BY NICHOLE CARTMELL
In a push toward "mobile-first," Facebook looks to join other news aggregators with
its own mobile application.
Internally, it's called Reader. The application is said to display content from Facebook users
and publishers in a newspaper format tailored to your liking — much like Flipboard already
does. (Via YouTube / Flipboard)
The goal with this app is to get more eyes for longer periods of time on Facebook. That
equates to more ad revenue for the social media company. (Via YouTube / theofficialfacebook)
The Wall Street Journal notes this move falls in line with Facebook's move to reshape its
identity — one that's highly focused on mobile users. (Via The Wall Street Journal)
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has said this is the way to go if the company wants to boost
advertising revenue.
VentureBeat says the point here is to target people at any time of day — a strategy that
it says seems to be working.
"Facebook gets 1 in 7 of the minutes people spend on desktop PCs, and 1 in 5 minutes on
mobile devices. So mobile usage is up — and the company is making 30 percent of its revenue
from mobile now — up from zero at the time of its public offering."
But a writer for Gizmodo points out Facebook history lacks success when it comes to branching
out from social apps. Take, for example, Poke, which mirrors the highly popular app Snapchat.
According to the writer, " ... with plenty of others clamouring for the news feed top
spot thanks to the demise of Google Reader, competition will be tough."
No comment on the app from Facebook just yet. But TechCrunch reported a little over a week
ago that lines of code hint at RSS feeds appearing in Facebook's Graph API code — a sign NDTV
says supports the idea of a news reader.