Webware

A reviewing and recommendation company called Living Social, which makes the popular "Pick Your Five" app for Facebook (and other social networks), has acquired BuyYourFriendaDrink.com.

BuyYourFriendaDrink describes itself in a press release as an "automated sampling solution for the beer, wine and spirits industry," but don't let that fool you. It's really a way for you to remotely buy drinks for your friends when you lose bets to them.

You pay up, your friend gets a text-message or e-mail code that the bartender enters into the system, and your friend gets a drink. The company also offers gift cards and does sponsored "sampling" campaigns with beverage brands.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but we assume there was a toast involved.

Announcing a new way to get your friends drunk: GiveReal.com, a Facebook application (and standalone Web site) that just emerged out of private beta. It's hoping to pioneer what the founders call "social e-commerce" by letting people send virtual drinks to each other that can be translated to a real-life libation.

The concept is, in theory, very similar to start-ups like buyyourfriendadrink.com. But services like that are only compatible with participating bars, and Give Real has found a workaround that will make its gifting service compatible with any bar that accepts credit cards. You opt to send a drink to a friend, your credit card gets charged, your friend chooses to accept the payment, and his or her credit card will be credited for that amount of cash when a purchase at an establishment considered a bar, restaurant, or cafe is made.

If the Facebook app is used, activity shows up in members' news feeds.

Drinks run the gamut from "Draft Beer" to "Pinot Noir" to "Purple Hooter Shooter" (what's that?) and there's no fixed price. So, depending on your generosity and wallet size, you can offer up anywhere from $1 to $99. If your recipient doesn't accept the purchase, you'll get your money back 12 months later.

On one hand, it is a very cute spin on the virtual-gifting trend that can be used to settle bets from afar ("I'll owe you a beer if...") or embarrass your friends by having an apple martini show up in a box on their Facebook profile. On the other hand, you're really just transferring a dollar amount to your friends' credit cards that's eligible for any purchase at an establishment classified by the four major credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) as a "bar, restaurant, or cafe."

So your friend could be using the $8 for that pina colada and spending it on cheese fries instead. But as they say around the holidays, it's the thought that counts.

Payments via Facebook
What's more interesting is that Give Real created its own payment platform to handle the transactions. Facebook has famously had a transaction system in development, something that may or may not have been delayed with the departure of product manager Ben Ling. I spoke to one of Give Real's founders, and he said that the introduction of a Facebook payment system would make it a lot easier for Give Real. But, at this point, they seem to have figured it out on their own, and say they've figured out the tough parts--fraud prevention and security.

The company aims to make a profit by charging a small transaction fee to each buyer and by doing branded campaigns whereby you can "buy" your friends a sponsored variety of drink (say, Corona or Jim Beam). The first of these partnerships should be announced within the month.

Give Real has been funded by Battery Ventures and Hillcrest Management, as well as angel investors Brian O'Kelley (co-founder of Right Media) and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Facebook junkies may know that he's the co-founder who hasn't exactly been on stellar legal terms with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But he still has a big stake in the company, and undoubtedly wants to see the platform keep up its momentum.

A source with knowledge of the situation said that the funding was in the low seven figures. In these economic conditions, I'll drink to that.

If you're a United Kingdom dweller feeling left out of U.S.-only services like BuyYourFriendADrink.com there's light at the end of the tunnel. Launching Friday is Get Them In, a new way to buy your friends food and drink items right on Facebook which can be redeemed at various U.K. pubs and retailers.

Unlike BYFAD, Get Them In is not just centered around bars, and it works in grocery stores too. Purchases of drinks and snacks are made through Facebook using PayPal, so you've got your entire list of friends available in one place. Once you've made the purchase, your friend gets a special redemption code sent to their phone which can be redeemed at the point of purchase in one of 1,500-plus participating retailers.

Coming soon is support for the U.S., Canada, and Australia, as well as an OpenSocial version for use on other social networks.

Pick out certain goods and buy them straight from Facebook to send to your friends.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

(Credit: USGS)

It was only because I was changing my son's diaper at 8:04 PM tonight that I wasn't online immediately after the house stopped shaking. But when it did, and I did, and the boy was asleep, and the house was checked for damage (none), and the wife was confirmed OK, what's the first thing I did? I went to the USGS Web site to see what had happened and to Twitter (via Snitter) to see how my friends were doing.

As I've written before, disasters are social, and Twitter is a great social platform for connecting people during those times. This quake was no disaster, fortunately (and if it was, it's unlikely as many people would be online and Twittering), but I've never felt so connected to my online pals as I did just a few minutes ago.

Neologism credit ("Twitterquake"): Brian Caldwell.

I'd initially been skeptical about BuyYourFriendADrink.com (BYFAD), the Web site that just opened today (see previous coverage) in which you can remotely order drinks for your friends that they can redeem at participating bars by showing the bartender a code in a text message. It's available at about 40 bars in New York City and the surrounding area, and the company plans to gradually expand to other urban areas over the course of the year.

I'd been pretty confident that the site itself would work, but I hadn't been entirely positive that the bars involved would really have their act together. Rafe Needleman was very kind to use BYFAD to text me a few bucks so that I'd be able to try the service out, but going into it, I was fully expecting that I'd be greeted with a strange look when I tried to pay for libations with a code in a text message.

However, when CNET associate producer Wilson Tang and I rolled into the Mad Hatter Saloon, just a few blocks from our Manhattan bureau, we were pleasantly surprised. The bartender initially wasn't aware that BYFAD codes could be contained in text messages (she'd thought it would be in the form of an e-mail printout) but she was aware of the site and knew what to do. There was a bit of a delay while she entered the code into the bar's credit card system, but I think that's something that most people will be willing to accept.

The apple martini that I bought with a text message

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy)

It basically did work just like a gift certificate or promotional code. Our balance went slightly over the amount Rafe had sent, because there were two of us, but that went through quite smoothly--we just handed over the amount of cash required to settle the check. And I had a darned good apple martini (though not an iMartini). Thanks, Rafe!

So, I give BuyYourFriendADrink a thumbs-up. Sure, it's gimmicky, and it's still very limited. But now when I win bets with my West Coast-based colleagues, I don't have to wait until I'm traveling out there for my "you owe me a beer" agreements to be fulfilled.

How many times have you been IMing with a friend or co-worker across the country, placed a bet ("If that Sanjaya guy gets the boot tonight, you owe me a beer!"), completed said bet, but had no immediate way to fulfill it because the other person involved was miles away? Well, now there's a brand-new solution--but just for New Yorkers, for the time being.

BuyYourFriendADrink.com was launched today and announced on the New York edition of e-mail events service Thrillist. BuyYourFriendADrink, or BYFAD, is a way to purchase libations for your friends online, which they can then redeem at participating establishments with the help of a text message. If you owe a friend a drink, or just want to be nice, head on over to the BYFAD Web site and fill out the form--you'll need to have that friend's cell phone number on hand. You can opt to give them a dollar amount between $5 and $250, and there's a 99-cent processing fee. Then, your friend receives an e-mail and a text message alerting them of the yummy drinkable gift, along with a promotional code.

The recipient then, presumably, can look up BYFAD-participating bars, choose one of them, and head over there. Then, he or she can just show the text message at the bartender, and it's processed through the bar's credit card system. So, basically, it's like a gift certificate by text message--nothing really revolutionary in the technology, but as far as we know, this is the first company to give SMS gift certificates a quick, tech-savvy happy-hour slant. It sounds almost too easy, but then again, mobile commerce is gaining some real speed these days.

I called up BYFAD's CEO, Steven Cohn, to see about the site's future plans. Currently, there are deals with 46 bars in New York City and the surrounding metro area (Hoboken, NJ and Long Island), 38 of which are active. The remaining eight should be added over the next few weeks. As for expansion outside of New York City, Cohn told me that several other northeastern and mid-Atlantic cities--Boston, Philadelphia, and DC--will be rolled out over the next few months. Other cities, including San Francisco, should be added in the second half of 2007.

The big question is--does it work? We'll see! CNET's small but fun-loving NYC outpost will be giving BYFAD a test run this afternoon once it's a more, uh, appropriate hour for beer. If it runs smoothly, I think this shows real promise.

See also: Happy Hour 2.0.