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Still in war with allies
Facebook is testing out a new way of picking up mobile users in international markets — a crucial part of its strategy to continue building out its user base as subscriber growth slows in markets like the U.S. In India, Facebook has launched Talktime, which gives users 50 Rupees (about $1) in calling credit when they sign up to Facebook via their mobile devices. It also offers users a further Rs 50 when they refer a friend to sign up.
Facebook tells us this is just a test for now. It follows on from Facebook Zero, a mobile-only site where users in select countries can access Facebook free of charge. Like Facebook Zero, Talktime’s aim is to drive more usage in emerging markets, where users are more price sensitive to using their phone credit for more than essential voice calls and texts:
“We partner with a number of telecoms companies around the world, many of whom offer incentives for their customers to use Facebook, such as zero rating mobile internet access to the service. This test is another such initiative,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch today.
The Talktime service was first noticed by India’s MachineHappy blog, and was then brought to our attention by a reader. MachineHappy notes that it’s tested the service but has yet to get its credit — although Facebook notes on its site that it could take up to three days for the credit to appear. Another India-based blog, Pluggd.in, notes a downside to this, however: in a bid to pick up extra voice credits, users might start creating fake profiles, although Facebook presumably has a control in place to limit the amount of credit given to a single phone number.
Here’s MachineHappy’s screenshot of the service. (When I tried to visit the URL provided in their post, it redirected to my own feed, so perhaps it only works in India.)
From Zero To Talktime Hero: Facebook Tests A New Way To Sign Up Users In India, Offering $1 Mobile Voice Credits | TechCrunch
Facebook tells us this is just a test for now. It follows on from Facebook Zero, a mobile-only site where users in select countries can access Facebook free of charge. Like Facebook Zero, Talktime’s aim is to drive more usage in emerging markets, where users are more price sensitive to using their phone credit for more than essential voice calls and texts:
“We partner with a number of telecoms companies around the world, many of whom offer incentives for their customers to use Facebook, such as zero rating mobile internet access to the service. This test is another such initiative,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch today.
The Talktime service was first noticed by India’s MachineHappy blog, and was then brought to our attention by a reader. MachineHappy notes that it’s tested the service but has yet to get its credit — although Facebook notes on its site that it could take up to three days for the credit to appear. Another India-based blog, Pluggd.in, notes a downside to this, however: in a bid to pick up extra voice credits, users might start creating fake profiles, although Facebook presumably has a control in place to limit the amount of credit given to a single phone number.
Here’s MachineHappy’s screenshot of the service. (When I tried to visit the URL provided in their post, it redirected to my own feed, so perhaps it only works in India.)
From Zero To Talktime Hero: Facebook Tests A New Way To Sign Up Users In India, Offering $1 Mobile Voice Credits | TechCrunch