Move over, CityVille, there’s a new game in town. Make that a slew of new games. Zynga, creator of popular social games on Facebook, is adding a pack of new products to its line-up. In addition to the just-announced CastleVille, the company has also developed Hidden Chronicles, Zynga Casino, and Project Z, its independent gaming network. READ MORE
It was only a matter of time… Facebook, in a turn to the political, has formed a political action committee (PAC). The PAC, says a Facebook spokesperson, will “give employees a way to make their voices heard in the political process” by supporting candidates who share the company’s goals. READ MORE
Part of Facebook’s new changes and fresh look will involve additional profile sections built from a user’s history at third-party businesses. Netflix had hoped to be part of this, and for most of the world, it will be. But beleaguered Netflix can’t find complete success. That feature won’t come to the United States any time soon. READ MORE
Color CEO Bill Nguyen has re-launched the innovative but poorly implemented social discovery app as a Facebook app for Android and iPhone. Color for Facebook is the second go for the company, a $41-million-funded start-up that faltered out of the gate. READ MORE
Facebook, Google and Apple use facial recognition to automatically recognize people in photos and the technology is increasingly being used in other ways, such as in billboards that target ads based on who’s walking by. But is this technology good, or bad? Is it an invasion of privacy, or is it something consumers can benefit from? READ MORE
Last week, Target‘s website crashed under the weight of thousands of eager shoppers, all trying to snag the retailer’s exclusive line created by designer Missoni. This has left business analysts cautioning against assuming the web can nimbly adjust as consumers have taken to social media to complain. READ MORE
Yesterday Facebook held its annual f8 developers conference in San Francisco and announced several changes to its site, including a new Timeline feature, which captures everything you’ve ever posted. READ MORE
Americans will spend $1.2 billion on virtual goods in 2011. Facebook has made $470 million off these sales already. But those Farmville pigs and their kin brand-free. A German start-up, Iconicfuture, hopes to change that and is working to launch a marketplace where a licensee and developers can get together. READ MORE
Google will soon attach its +1 button to web and mobile display advertisements. The feature will begin to appear on ads in early October, the company has said. The company may be wagering that Google+, which has not caught on as an alternative to Facebook, may draw in some new members by catering to brands. READ MORE
Do you use Google+? Do those in your circles “influence” you the way your Facebook friends and the Twitter member you follow do? Joe Fernandez, CEO of Klout, is betting that the answer is yes, or will be very soon. Klout, which provides a score intended to measure the influence of all social media users, has added Google+ and +1s to its scoring algorithms. READ MORE
