• Mediaweek, Monday, February 23, 2009 11 AM

Facebook "doesn't see a dime from Slide and RockYou," two of the largest application developers on the social networking site, but that may soon change, says Mike Shields of Mediaweek. As the company struggles to find a sustainable revenue model, some industry watchers think Facebook will soon impose a tax or revenue sharing requirement on application developers. "A deal of that sort is probably in the works," says digital media analyst Anton Denissov of Parks Associates.

After all, app makers offer an increasingly viable alternative for advertisers to reach users on social networking sites, so a move to get in on that action would make sense for Facebook, says Adam Shlachter, digital practice lead for MEC Interaction. Meanwhile, Max Levin, the CEO of Slide, has been preparing for that possibility. Levin actually proposed the idea that Facebook share some of Slide's revenues in exchange for promoting its applications across the site.

Others, like Chris Cunningham, founder and CEO of the apps rep firm appssavvy, are opposed to such a move. Cunningham doubts that Facebook will start charging an app tax. "I'm not worried," he said, adding that the apps business will generate $125 million to $150 million in 2009--the equivalent to more than half of Facebook's 2008 revenues.

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