BY BHARGAV.

Zynga, the social gaming company whose runaway hit FarmVille made it synonymous with Facebook games, is now pulling away from the social network that nurtured it. Starting next week, players will no longer be required to sign up for a Facebook account in order to register on Zynga.com. And Zynga games -- many of which encourage in-game purchases -- will use the gaming company's own currency instead of using Facebook as a payment processor. Facebook takes a 30 percent fee on those transactions. In 2011, Zynga accounted for about 12 percent of Facebook's revenue.
The disengagement is mutual. Facebook plans to withhold certain information about its users' social graphs. For instance, Zynga users will no longer be able to see their Facebook friends who are playing Zynga games but with whom they haven't previously interacted. Although Zynga would prefer to have full access to Facebook user data, moving away from the company's former dependence on a single platform seems the right choice. -- Wall Street Journal
YouTube reaches a billion monthly users.
YouTube says it now has 1 billion monthly users. If YouTube were a country, it would be the third-largest in the world, after China and India. The video service is so powerful and well-known around the world that it's an advertiser's dream: Every one of Advertising Age's top 100 brands has run a campaign on YouTube. -- CNET
YouTube says it now has 1 billion monthly users. If YouTube were a country, it would be the third-largest in the world, after China and India. The video service is so powerful and well-known around the world that it's an advertiser's dream: Every one of Advertising Age's top 100 brands has run a campaign on YouTube. -- CNET
Pinterest acquires a recommendation app.
Less than a year after local recommendation app Livestar launched, it has been purchased by Pinterest. Livestar will be shutting down and its engineering team will be joining Pinterest. "We think the Livestar team is a natural fit for Pinterest because of their commitment to inspiring people to do things in their everyday lives through social and expert recommendations," Pinterest said in a statement.
Less than a year after local recommendation app Livestar launched, it has been purchased by Pinterest. Livestar will be shutting down and its engineering team will be joining Pinterest. "We think the Livestar team is a natural fit for Pinterest because of their commitment to inspiring people to do things in their everyday lives through social and expert recommendations," Pinterest said in a statement.