Marketplace
Appbistro’s Facebook Page Tab Application Marketplace Gets a Verified Developer Program
Facebook Page tab applications marketplace Appbistro today launched its Verified Developer Program , a distinction it awards to developers offering high quality, reliable apps and strong customer support. Chosen developer will gain the advantage of having their apps display Appbistro’s Verified Developer badge and appear at the top of search results and app category indexes on the Appbistro marketplace. The program acts as a third-party version of Facebook’s Preferred Developer Consultant Program , except that it is specifically for Page tab app developers and Appbistro earns a 30% affiliate fee on the sale of any app in its marketplace, verified or otherwise. Currently upon submission to Appbistro, Page tab apps are given a one to five-star rating based on virality, content management, administrative experience, user experience, and scalability. The Verified Developer distinction is awarded independently of this rating. The launch partners, who will be the first to display the Verified Developer award, are Facebook e-commerce and storefront provider Payvment, job posting tab maker Work For Us, and welcome tab builder Pagemodo. They were chosen for having valuable apps, good customer support, and a high monthly active user count. Director of Business Development Rhett Stonelake says Appbistro is now accepting inquiries regarding inclusion in the program, but that developers new to the marketplace will undergo a 30 to 40 day trial period to vet their long term customer support before being considered. When a developer is admitted, all of their apps will receive the distinction and the associated advantages. A self-written blurb about the developer is also added to their app profiles. There is no specific cap on how many developers can be admitted, and developers will be warned if the quality or support of their apps drops such that they are in danger of being expelled. Appbistro says they’re aiming to solve the Page tab app discoverability problem. Since some apps with high utility don’t have inherent virality, it can be hard for admins to find them, especially since Facebook removed links to the Application Directory . The Verified Developer Program does not discriminate based on size, making it accessible to small companies or even app hobbyists as long as they meet the requirements. While the launch of the program may also be designed to bring press and traffic to AppBistro, it does provide a distribution channel for any Page tab app developer which is committed to quality.
Windows Live Messenger Lives Big on This Week’s List of Fastest-Gaining Facebook Apps by DAU
This week’s AppData list of fastest-growing Facebook apps by daily active users includes the usual mix of quizzes, just-for-fun, messaging and games, with a couple interesting exceptions like Zoosk . Here’s the top 20 list: Top Gainers This Week Name DAU Gain Gain,% 1. Quiz Planet 998,462 +673,032 +207% 2. Windows Live Messenger 4,148,398 +320,651 +8% 3. Status Emotions & Animations 508,209 +218,187 +75% 4. Texas HoldEm Poker 6,105,240 +217,927 +4% 5. Zoosk 552,433 +163,884 +42% 6. ???? 237,029 +153,128 +183% 7. Car Town 690,567 +152,381 +28% 8. ???? 154,315 +138,058 +849% 9. FarmVille 17,337,310 +116,768 +0.68% 10. snsplus 139,771 +112,684 +416% 11. Ideogram 105,993 +101,912 +2,497% 12. Games 1,091,624 +89,858 +9% 13. Marketplace 229,794 +87,529 +62% 14. Baking Life 1,440,191 +79,849 +6% 15. Besarte 170,792 +79,087 +86% 16. My Top Fans 487,810 +62,470 +15% 17. Fashion World 1,081,320 +62,174 +6% 18. Phrases 4,513,388 +60,767 +1% 19. Quiz Matic – Bilgi Yar??mas? 75,117 +60,078 +399% 20. Formspring 705,741 +59,677 +9% Quiz Planet , a quiz creation app, comes in at the top with what appears to be a large gain. Over a longer time period than a week, though, Quiz Planet appears to be losing users; its DAU peaked earlier this month at 1.1 million. Windows Live Messenger is continuing its slow-but-steady growth; it now appears to be the largest messaging app on Facebook. Its growth actually did get a huge boost about a week back, which may have come from a new Microsoft feature that allows users to chat to Facebook friends from within the Live Messenger app. Skipping Status Emotions & Animations , which is self-explanatory, and Texas HoldEm Poker , which may not have grown as much as appearances suggest (we’re looking into the issue), we find Zoosk at number five. The dating app appears to have found a way to bring back its existing users more often, as its DAU as a percentage of monthly active users rose by about half, to nine percent. Finally, Ideogram is a foreign-language app in two ways: the app itself is in Italian, while its purpose is to publish Chinese characters with specific meanings (like “courage” or “ambition”) to the news feeds of friends. It’s growing fairly well, but appears to have issues hanging onto its new users.
Score Last-Minute Vacation Rental Deals
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. . If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here . Name: PackLate Quick Pitch: PackLate makes booking a vacation rental as easy as booking a hotel. Genius Idea: PackLate is an online marketplace for last-minute deals on vacation rentals. Members can browse the site for exclusive discounts — often up to 45% off — on properties in approximately 30 locations, primarily in California, Colorado and Florida.When users find a rental they’re interested in, they can opt to book or “watch” the property. PackLate will automatically inform users when the price changes or others express interest in the same rental; the risk is, of course, that if users wait too long, someone else might snatch the deal.Recently, invite-only sales sites like Gilt ’s JetSetter , Rue La La and TabletHotels have begun to offer discounted travel deals in a similar fashion, mainly on stays at major hotels and high-end vacation packages. Of the three, TabletHotels is the most similar to PackLate with its emphasis on last-minute opportunities at boutique hotels.PackLate, however, has focused on building relationships with smaller property managers of vacation rentals, rather than hotels. The four-person, Philadelphia-based company launched a mere eight months ago, having obtained $700,000 in seed capital from a number of local venture capital funds and private angel investors.Given the small size of the staff and the inherent difficulties of forming business relationships with many small and medium-size property managers and owners, it will take awhile for PackLate to scale. That, and there needs to be a shift in consumer thinking for it to really take off; as The New York Times points out, Americans outside of the upper tax brackets have yet to “embrace the indulgent concept of the impulsive vacation.”What do you think of PackLate? Have you ever booked an impulsive, last-minute vacation because you saw a good online discount? Please share your experiences in the comments.[ img credit: *Micky ] Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today . For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad