Fun

So I have to admit I have an addiction… to the Facebook game FarmVille. Now, of course, I am always curious about the business and money side of things and the money generated by the creators of Facebook applications is no exception. The most popular apps bring in millions of page impressions and create a potential for tremendous revenue for the creators.

FarmVille is interesting for the fact that I don’t recall seeing any display advertising and upon double checking, sure enough there is none. The game appears to derive revenue solely from selling Farm Coins and Cash used for upgrading your virtual farm. While I have never paid money to add things to a Facebook app, I’m sure many people have and in turn create a nice revenue stream for the creator, Zynga.

Zynga was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal because of FarmVille’s success. The article mentions that after only two months, FarmVille enjoys having 11 Million active users and that money is earned through online advertising and in-game purchases. I’m still confused as to where the in-game advertising is though.

Adam Nash published a blog post about the economics of FarmVille which is a very interesting analysis of the inside mechanics of the game and will surely help out not only hardcore players, but newbies as well. Another more detailed economic analysis of FarmVille’s Trees was calculated by Pablo Paniagua.

The picture at the top of this post is my farm, that I have since modified and will be changing again after saving up to upgrade the size. The game is entirely pointless, however it is a great relaxation tool and a way to kill time.

Technorati Tags: zynga, farmville, wall street journal, virtual farm, facebook

I am currently on Spring Break and have traveled to California for the week. The weather is sunny and a little on the cool side, but it sure beats the cold and rainy weather back in Michigan. In light of the current state budget crisis in California, I feel like I am doing my part in helping out and spending my money here. I was originally planning a trip to Cancun, Mexico, but decided I would rather keep my dollars here in the US where they are surely needed.

I am taking many pictures and will be posting about my trip here over the coming weeks. In the first two days of my trip I have been to Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hollywood. I’m looking forward to four more days of fun in the sun!

With Halloween fast approaching, have you had a chance to checkout all the halloween costume stores yet? Halloween Adventure can help you locate a store in your local area that specializes in Holiday Costumes. Just type in your zipcode and you’ll get a listing of all their stores in your town or within a short distance.

Last year I found a terrific “evil jester” costume at a local store that I wore to a haunted house at the Boys & Girls Club that I volunteer at. In fact, that particular costume was so scary that I had to remove the mask to avoid freaking out the small children walking through the section I was in. The costume was relatively inexpensive, costing about $40 from the store I purchased it at. Some things I just prefer buying in person and Halloween costumes are one of those things. Not only can you save money on shipping charges, but you can try it on, or at least see how it looks versus trying to imagine it from a small picture on a website.

However, sometimes you can find some incredibly good deals online that could even save you a considerable amount of money after including shipping and handling charges. But, in that event I still like to see the item in person before placing an order for the exact model online at a cheaper price. Use Halloween Adventure to find the best deal for what you’re looking for this year!