[LINK] Facebook gambling

[Jan Whitaker]

And so it begins:

Facebook Gambling: Gamesys To Offer Real Money In Social Games For 
Users In Britain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/facebook-gambling-gamesys-real-money_n_1752734.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will allow users in Britain to 
wager real money on its service, opening its doors to gambling for 
the first time as revenue growth slows at the world's No. 1 social network.

On Tuesday, Gamesys, an independent gaming company, launched a 
version of online Bingo for Facebook users in Britain who are at 
least 18, and which the company said will pay winners real money. 
Gamesys also announced plans to offer virtual slots gambling on Facebook.

Facebook confirmed that it is partnering with Gamesys to allow 
gambling on its service.

"Real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the UK 
and we are allowing a partner to offer their games to adult users on 
the Facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner," Facebook said 
in a statement.

Facebook spokeswoman Linda Griffin said there are no current plans to 
offer gambling in any other countries or with any other partners 
besides Gamesys.

She declined to disclose what portion of the revenue Facebook would 
take from the gambling on the Gamesys games, but acknowledged that 
there was a revenue sharing agreement between Facebook and Gamesys.

Facebook takes a 30 percent share of revenue for transactions on 
non-gambling games on its service, such as when users purchase 
virtual tractors and seeds in Zynga Inc's popular Farmville game.

Facebook, which makes the majority of its money from online 
advertising, has seen its revenue growth slow sharply during the past 
year. In the second quarter, Facebook reported revenue growth of 32 
percent, down sharply from more than 100 percent growth it delivered 
at the same time last year.

Shares of Facebook were down 3 percent at $21.26 on Tuesday afternoon 
on the Nasdaq.  [They started at $38/share - that is quite a loss.]


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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