Here we go. This week the “mobile social networking gateway/platform/aggregator/whatever” category officially exploded in perceived size/value/opportunity.
This was a great week for Intercasting Corp as Verizon Wireless and AT&T announced at CTIA that they launched their social networking categories around our ANTHEM platform! Awesome, very happy. We are proud to be serving the largest carriers in North America.
A slew of other companies also announced that they have a mobile social networking gateway/platform/aggregator/whatever, including Newbay, Verisign, Visto and Yahoo!. Wow - we’re in good company.
On one hand, the arrival of would-be competition from such respectable companies to the mobile social networking space clearly validates our model and approach, and so I welcome it. On the other hand, the language of press releases and spin creates some confusion at a time when clarity would be preferred by large companies needing to make decisions. Naturally, everyone is claiming that their solution is the best. And, of course, every solution is different from every other one. I am friends with the CEOs of some of those companies, so I wish them all luck and good fortune, but at the same time I realize that while we are the top company in this space, they will sometimes be taking shots at us to paint themselves in a more positive light. We will never do that, preferring instead for our technology and approach to stand on their own.
While I would never presume to speak intelligently about another company’s specific approach, I do know enough about this space to provide some thoughtful insight. Yes, I have an enlightened self interest in doing so, but I promise you my primary objective is to cut through the bullshit so you can, too.
“Push” vs. “Integrated”
Most web-based social networking providers have APIs that enable third parties to create applications. This strategy positions companies like MySpace and Facebook as “platforms” on which other companies can create useful tools and applets. It is frankly a brilliant strategy, and creates a lot of value for the ecosystem around them. To be clear, the goal is to build value around them, not outside of them, and the bulk of the publicly available APIs are designed in such a way that the user is in fact sent back to the website at some point. As a simple example, you may be able to receive alerts such as friend requests or messages via an API that a mobile “aggregator” may be able to display in an application, but to respond or reply, the user has to go to the website because there is no “reply” API available. A truly “integrated” solution like the ANTHEM platform differs in that the social networking providers have enabled full and complete two-way integration to the core functionality of the social networking service that enables a mobile representation of the experience.
Commercial license
Take a look at the terms of use of publicly available APIs. As an example, if a platform company does not have an explicit agreement with Facebook to represent Facebook functionality in the mobile space, they are in violation of the Facebook platform policy, and the service, while potentially technologically viable, may not be commercially viable. Simply put, if you are a carrier or OEM looking for a commercial-grade solution for which you will not be sued later, demand to see a signed copy of all explicit agreements that an “aggregator” has with the social networking providers, and be sure that your lawyers deem that they survive the test of commercial viability as the service is represented.
Here is an excerpt from the Facebook Terms of Service section B, Presentation and Distribution:
5) You may not sell, resell, lease, redistribute, license, sublicense or transfer all or any portion of the Facebook Properties, or use or store any Facebook Properties for any purpose other than as specifically authorized herein.
6) Your Facebook Platform Applications may not be designed or implemented a way that might mislead a user into believing he or she is interacting directly with the Facebook Site when interacting with any of your Facebook Platform Applications, or that any of your Facebook Platform Applications were created by or are endorsed by Facebook, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion.
Now, one might ask why a company would make APIs available if they did not expect some creativity to be employed in their use and deployment, if, after all, the value ultimately accretes to the social networking provider anyway. This is a thin-ice argument that does not pass our test of a legally viable commercial product. Simply put, we would never place our valuable partners in the position of even having to have the conversation about whether our platform and the way that it enables the social networking ecosystem is completely legal and respectful of the rights of everyone involved, both in spirit and to the letter of the law.
Our adherence to this basic principle is the reason why Facebook is currently conspicuously missing from our list of ANTHEM partners. While we could use their available APIs to build a somewhat lighter “read only” version of Facebook, it would not faithfully recreate their experience to a mobile-only user, would not be in compliance with their stated terms of service and would not pass the legal hurdles at the carriers and OEMs. We only work with social networking providers with which we have a direct and future-proof development agreement.
Ultimately it seems logical that Facebook would want to reach every consumer and not just every web consumer, so they will probably at some point provide the level of integration required to provide their carrier partners with a mobile-centric experience, and when they do, I suspect they will make it available to everyone as democratically as they have always conducted themselves. In the meantime, any “aggregator” claiming to have the ability to provide a mobile version of Facebook should be examined with scrutiny.
Here is what I can say about Intercasting Corp and our ANTHEM platform: We have been subject to the scrutiny of the largest carriers in the world and have passed with flying colors.
Do you have any idea how rigorous the review and vetting process is at our great partner Verizon Wireless? Do you know how long it takes to get from first sales pitch to final deployment? Can you imagine how strenuous the legal process is at Verizon Wireless, especially when it comes to this category? Trust me: It. Is. Thorough.
That some of the largest carriers in the world have selected the ANTHEM platform is at least an indication of the depth of our approach and our ability to satisfy the needs of the industry in this category. While I do not expect to win every deal in the world, I do know that the number of deals we have makes us the leader in this space, and that status is a testament to the quality of our technology and the viability of our platform. The confusion created this week is unfortunate, but with some rigor you can cut through the nonsense. Oh, and contact me for more information – I would be happy to help. 