Facebook gives developers more detailed analytics
Facebook is announcing later on Thursday a complete revamp of the analytics system it offers to developers for measuring the performance of their applications on its platform. It's more extensive than the company's recent decision to switch from publicly reporting daily use to monthly use.
It'll be officially announced on the Facebook developer blog.
The new analytics are available only to the developer who created a given application, not to Facebook's general membership of 90 million. They'll be available under a "Features" tab in the application's page, and they will index "canvas page views, clicks on profile boxes, confirmation of Feed forms, and the adding and removing of bookmarks" in a way that can be fitted into custom graphs.
The update doesn't change much for the developer experience, so it's unlikely to be a controversial move. The average Facebook application creator will probably appreciate having the stats available.
In part, the move is a way of helping developers transition to the newly redesigned Facebook profile pages, which some have criticized for making developer applications less visible by putting most of them on a separate "Boxes" tab. Others have applauded the slick new design for making the profile interface less cluttered.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
