Zynga

Zynga users may have noticed something unfamiliar on the Web site -- Facebook ads have crept over to the gaming platform's site, filling the space that used to house Google ads.

The change was first noticed by Inside Facebook and it has the media speculating up a storm about whether this is the beginning of Facebook's advertising service empire.

Now when you connect with Facebook on Zynga.com, you'll see personalized ads and sponsored stories just like they appear in Facebook, the social network says. According to Facebook, you'll see only sponsored stores about activity that'… Read more

Hope you're sitting down for this: Jeff actually has positive words about a movie he saw this weekend! Without giving away the surprise, suffice it to say that Jeff's complaints about the lack of creativity in film and his disgust with the movie-going experience disappeared for two hours on Friday.

In advance of Microsoft's mysterious press event today, we'll speculate what's in store for the software giant and how it could fit into the 56-page road map document that leaked over the weekend.… Read more

Perhaps Zynga will have the last laugh on its multimillion-dollar OMGPOP/Draw Something purchase after all.

Hollywood trade paper Variety reports that CBS has outbid "multiple networks" to nab a pilot episode of a primetime TV show based on the Pictionary-like game Draw Something.

The OMGPOP-developed app shot out of the gates in February -- exceeding 50 million downloads and boasting more than 14 million daily users by April -- only to see its daily average user base drop by nearly half by late May. The plunge had some investors wondering if Zynga paid too much for OMGPOP.… Read more

For a trade show all about video games and interactive entertainment, it's surprising to me that some of the most popular games are hardly represented at all. Amid the halls filled with life-size statues of space marines and zombies, you'll see little of the Facebook and social games that remain popular, if uncool.

There's a definite hierarchy to the games and gamers at E3. The PC game types look down at the console types, and they both look down at the social/casual types. Which is, on one hand, not surprising, as much of the audience at E3 is made up of industry enthusiasts who blur the line between fan and impartial observer, and they clearly prefer Halo to CityVille.

On the other hand, it's hard to ignore a huge genre of games that measure users in terms of tens of millions of monthly players (referred to as monthly average users, or MAU).

And yet, ignored these games are. At E3 2012, you'll find Disney and subsidiary Playdom, with Facebook games such as Armies of Magic. EA promotes games such as the brand-new Sim City Social or The Sims Social, both Facebook versions of classic PC games, but I've seen little of the popular games (Bejeweled, Zuma,) from PopCap, a recent EA acquisition. … Read more

PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- At the D10 conference here, where the focus for most attendees seems to be the challenges and opportunities of the mobile markets, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus played down the space. "Let's not be too quick to jump on mobile," he said. "People still spend massive amounts of time on the PC at work ... and on boring conference calls."

He explained how the company treats its desktop and Web games, most of them connected to Facebook, compared with how it deals with the mobile platforms.

"We focus on reach, retention, and … Read more

In today's show, we ponder a world with an iPen, lose our addiction to Draw Something, and tilt our heads to the Axis:

Yahoo has launched a new tool for searching the Web, called Yahoo Axis. This is not a browser, but rather a plug-in that attaches to your desktop browser, and it's also an app for Apple devices. So why use it? It's supposed to be a faster way to comb through search results. Start typing in your search term, and a horizontal bar will showcase thumbnail previews of websites you can jump to. Also, searches … Read more

Zynga seems to have no regrets about buying OMGPOP, despite the precipitous decline of player interest in its flagship game, Draw Something.

The once wildly popular game, which most resembles the board game Pictionary, was released in February, and within the first two weeks, it skyrocketed with 10 million downloads. Quickly, both the free and paid versions were No. 1 on iTunes' download charts. By early April, the game had exceeded 50 million downloads and boasted more than 14 million daily users.

However, since its peak last month, the game has slipped to become the 18th top paid app on … Read more

Zynga and American Express have come up with a plan to combine physical and virtual commerce.

The companies today announced a program called Zynga Serve Rewards. The program allows FarmVille players to earn rewards after making purchases with a prepaid card from American Express.

In order to take advantage of the offer, users will need to jump through some hoops. To kick things off, FarmVille players will need to plant a Serve Money Tree on their farms. After doing so, they will need to register for Zynga Serve Rewards to receive the prepaid card in the mail. After adding money … Read more

As Facebook shares priced at $38, moved toward $42 and then retreated back to the offering price, Zynga shares collapsed. In fact, Zynga shares hit stock exchange circuit breakers and were halted. A circuit breaker is hit when a stock falls 10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent. A circuit breaker is essentially a trading time out.