Facebook launches its own currency

Social networking website Facebook has launched its own currency as it tries to become less reliant on advertising revenues.
The new credits system, which is currently being trialled, allows users to buy Facebook currency and spend it on virtual goods offered by third-party developers.

As the payment service provider, Facebook will take a percentage of the revenue from each transaction.

The social networking website introduced its virtual currency last November and some third-party software developers are already claiming the system is highly lucrative.

According to the Financial Times, Zynga, the largest applications developer on Facebook, has reported annual sales of $100 million (£60 million).

Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner Research, told the news provider: "Over time, this will be very significant.

"Social networking sites have suffered with monetising [their services], but this leverages [the fact that] users are there on Facebook."

In April Facebook users spent 230 million hours on the site.
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