Inside Facebook

We often get asked for recommendations about trusted service providers for application development, Page development, and marketing strategy. A list of the companies we recommend is provided in our Facebook Marketing Bible. We also recently published our list of 9 Top Companies That Provide Facebook Page Management Tools.

But today, Facebook itself is starting its own “Preferred Developer Consultant Program” in order to help interested companies and organizations find third party service providers officially blessed by Facebook. The 14 companies included in the program at launch are:

• Archrival
• Buddy Media
• Context Optional
• Fluid
• Involver
• iPlatform
• Kresma Design
• Shuffle Interactive
• Sprout
• StepChange
• Stuzo
• Terralever
• Vitrue
• Wildfire

As you can see, the list includes companies that provide application and Connect development, as well as Page service providers. Eventually, it plans to include more companies in the future, says Justin Osofsky, who works on the Facebook Platform team. Interested parties can register their interest in applying to the program here.

It makes sense that Facebook would create its own list of “recommended” developers. Although the company can’t guarantee their work, it’s a helpful step for the ecosystem overall.