Facebook Bans Application Invite Incentives

  • August 14, 2008
Facebook has adopted a policy barring applications that offer incentives to users for sending invitations to their friends. The new rule builds on the prohibition against forced invites that Facebook established earlier this year, and is part of the social network's broader effort to cut back on clutter and time-wasting apps.

Generally, apps that award money, bonus points or additional features in return for inviting friends will not be allowed under the new policy.

"This new policy isn't necessarily bad news for developers as some may expect," said Karl Bunyan on the Inside Facebook blog. "Facebook is continuing its efforts to improve the quality of messages that applications generate within Facebook communication channels, which should improve the conversion rates of app messages throughout the Platform as a whole."

In connection with its recent redesign, Facebook has also launched new custom News Feed filters for individual applications and friend lists. The additions allow users to sort material by categories including events, groups, pages, and the custom friend lists Facebook began allowing users to set up last year.--Mark Walsh

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