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We’re hearing that Facebook is going to start rolling out its own version of offers, which let users earn virtual currency credits in return for signing up for services like Netflix or filling out a survey. These deals have been made popular by companies like Offerpal, gWallet and Super Rewards, which offer deals for virtual currency in games on Facebook. We hear Facebook is partnering with a few startups to offer its own currency, Credits, to users. Facebook launched Credits last year and has slowly been ramping up the use of its virtual currency, most recently expanding its availability on Facebook’s most popular gaming app, Zynga’s Farmville.
It’s unclear exactly when the offers will be rolling out or which startups the social network is partnering with in the offers, but we’re assuming the Facebook offers will make an appearance in games on the social network. And we hear that the offers platform will be a test at first.
So why would Facebook get into the offers game? The virtual goods and currency market has heated up with the immense popularity of social gaming on Facebook, MySpace and other sites. The space is expected to grow into a $2 billion industry within the next few years and it makes sense that Facebook would want to open up a new revenue source for its new currency platform.
Another reason that Facebook might do this is to have increased control over the types of offers that are served to users on the network. Facebook came under fire last year following the Scamville scandal, in which virtual currency monetization platforms were serving up scammy lead-gen offers to users. Shortly following Scamville, Facebook revamped its enforcement efforts around app advertising and offer scams.