New platform policy more mindful of developer schedules – Facebook updated its policy to make any breaking changes to the API on the first Wednesday of every month. Previously, changes were pushed on the first of the month, which sometimes fell on a weekend. Now all changes will be made during the work week.

Facebook works to stop secondary market trading - Bloomberg reported that Facebook is working to curb trading of company shares on secondary market by early April, ahead of the company’s initial public offering in early May. This means there will be no new trades and the IPO won’t be until at least May 2.

Facebook to investors: Zuckerberg won’t be overly involved in IPO – Reuters reported that Facebook representatives at a recent investor meeting told those in attendance not to expect much involvement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Specifically, the report said that “expectations should be set pretty low.” [Image via Facebook]

Zuckerberg’s lawyers expedite disclosures – The Federal and Trade Commission agreed to eliminate the 30-day waiting period and expedite the approval of a filing for Zuckerberg. The CEO plans to exercise stock options worth about $5 billion in Facebook’s initial public offering, according to the New York Times.

Rumor: Facebook works on its search engine – According to anonymous Business Week sources, Facebook has hired a former Google engineer to work on the company’s search function to make it easier for users to access users, photos, videos and other Facebook information, possibly including elsewhere on the web.

Google launching commenting system – Google is set to launch a commenting system for third-party websites that is likely meant to rival Facebook’s plug-in.

Facebook launches cover photo contest – Facebook Marketing Solutions is sponsoring a contest for businesses to get featured in the cover photo of the page. The photos are supposed to capture a business in a “different or new” way. The winning photo will become the cover photo for the page, which has nearly a million Likes.

Facebook calls out employers asking for user info - Facebook responded to reports that some employers are asking users for their Facebook accounts in order to view private profiles. Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan said this practice may lead to legal liability and the company will protect users by influencing policymakers, shutting down apps that violate privacy and taking legal action when necessary.

Zuckerberg could be taking less visible role in IPO – The Wall Street Journal reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent behavior hints that he may not be playing a visible role in the company’s IPO. As evidence the WSJ offers that he was absent at a meeting of analysts and bankers at Facebook HQ recently.

Facebook mirrors Apple with low R&D investment – Bloomberg reported that Facebook spends less on engineering and research and development than other Internet firms, specifically by not relying on outsiders for this work. According to the report, Facebook spends 10 percent of sales on R&D.

Facebook Hacker Cup crowns winners – The 2012 Facebook Hacker Cup went down March 19 in Menlo Park, Calif. First place went to Roman Andreev, of Russia, who finished in one hour and four minutes and won the $5,000 first place prize. Tomek Czajka from the U.S. won second place and $2,000, finishing in one hour and five minutes. [Image via Facebook]

Google has higher employee satisfaction than Facebook – For the first time in four years, Facebook ranks lower than Google in employee satisfaction, according to Glassdoor. Google’s rating on the employer ratings site is now 3.9, while Facebook’s rating is 3.7.

Featured page owners get subscribe button – Fans can now more easily subscribe to Facebook page admins who make themselves visible as “Page Owners.” Facebook added a subscribe button to this featured section of pages on Friday. This only applies to page owners who have enabled subscribers.

Zuckerberg weighs in on SOPA -  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the Stop Online Piracy Act on Wednesday, writing in a Facebook post, “We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet’s development.”

Facebook fifth in video viewers – ComScore reported this week that Facebook was the fifth most popular destination for online video behind Google, VEVO, Yahoo and Viacom. This is among the 182 million Internet users in the U.S. who watched online videos in December. Last year Facebook placed sixth, but generally has not seen steady growth in this category. [Image via ZDnet]

Employees increasingly use social media at work -  Palo Alto Networks found a 300 percent increase in social networking on corporate networks this year. Specifically, bandwidth consumption for Facebook apps, social plugins and posting increased from 5 percent to 25 percent since October 2010.

Update on Koobface virus -  Facebook security team posted an update about the Koobface virus this week, noting that after three years the company is been able to keep the virus off the platform, but is still seeking those responsible.

Next gen iPad includes Facebook code - iMore is reporting that buried within the iOS 5.1 beta 3 code for iPad3 are “ongoing references to Facebook.”

MTV uses Facebook for scholarships -  MTV has partnered with the College Board and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to run a campaign called My College Dollars, which guides students to college scholarships for which they can apply.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Facebook this morning over charges that the social network deceived users by failing to honor privacy agreements.

Under the agreement, Facebook:

• cannot misrepresent the privacy or security of users personal information;
• must get user consent before releasing changes that override existing privacy settings;
• must prevent people from accessing a user’s material no more than 30 days after that user has deleted their account;
• has to establish and maintain a privacy program that addresses risks that come with “the development and management” of products and services and that protects the privacy of user’s information;
• and — within 180 days and every two years afterward for the next 20 — must seek out third-party audits verifying that the privacy program is in place and that it satisfies the FTC’s order.

The agreement comes nearly two years after the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation raised concerns over Facebook’s 2009 changes to its privacy settings that exposed personal information — namely profile name, profile picture, list of friends, current city, gender, networks, and Pages — to a larger audience than the social network previously allowed. Earlier in 2011, it was reported that Facebook would settle with the FTC over charges that these changes deceived users and violated their privacy — making any changes that retroactively expose user data an opt-in instead of a mandatory change.

At this point, Facebook would have to take pretty intentional steps against the terms of the agreement to cause the FTC to pursue action against it again. In the last year alone, Facebook has also added or changed many features that affect privacy in ways that address the FTC’s complaint — like protecting user IDs from falling into the wrong hands.

In a Facebook response post to the agreement, Mark Zuckerberg says that he feels the platform has a positive track record for providing transparency and control over privacy settings.

“That said,” his post reads, “I’m the first to admit that we’ve made a bunch of mistakes. In particular, I think that a small number of high profile mistakes, like Beacon four years ago and poor execution as we transitioned our privacy model two years ago, have often overshadowed much of the good work we’ve done. I also understand that many people are just naturally skeptical of what it means for hundreds of millions of people to share so much personal information online, especially using any one service.  Even if our record on privacy were perfect, I think many people would still rightfully question how their information was protected. It’s important for people to think about this, and not one day goes by when I don’t think about what it means for us to be the stewards of this community and their trust.”

Zuckerberg also announced that Erin Egan will become Chief Privacy Officer, Policy and that Michael Richter will become Chief Privacy Officer, Products.

During a media call in session with the FTC, Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Bureau of Consumer Protection Deputy Director Jessica Rich, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection Associate Director Maneesha Mithal, and Division of Privacy and Identity Protection Staff Attorney Laura Berger explained carefully that the settlement does not count as a ruling that Facebook violated the law in changing its privacy settings or that it knowingly shared private user data with advertisers. They also stressed that, while this order is very broad, it prohibits any deception about privacy in the future whenever Facebook introduces changes or updates.

Facebook, Google Pair Up to Fight Anti-Piracy Law – The House Stop Online Piracy Act proposal has brought together Facebook, Google and other companies in an effort to prevent the passing of the law that companies say will place the onus of protecting against piracy on them.

Facebook IPO Rumors Swirl – Business Insider reported that Facebook employees are reporting that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the IPO is coming soon, as early as next month.

Porn, Violence a Recent Problem – Facebook acknowledged to ZDnet this week a series of problems with unwanted pornographic or violent content showing up in their news feeds. The Wall Street Journal reported that it was a “coordinated spam attack” coming as the company ramps up to release Timeline.

FCC, Facebook Settle Over Privacy Issues – The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook reached a settlement over privacy issues, even as the FTC encourages people to Like them on Facebook.

Facebook’s Name Policy Hones in on Salman Rushdie - Writer Salman Rushdie became a target for Facebook’s real name policy this week. After the author took to Twitter to protest the deactivation of his account, the company restored his profile. The New York Times writes about the dilemmas caused by this policy in today’s world. [Image Via david_shankbone]

Google+ Works with Page Management Companies – Google announced last week the creation of Google+ Pages for brands to share information with users on Google+ and Page management companies like HootSuite, Context Optional, Vitrue and Buddy Media are set to work with brands on managing this new platform.

Orange Launches Facebook Phones – Orange is set to release three affordable Android smartphones for customers who heavily use Facebook.

Dems, GOP Participating in DC Hackathon – Congressional members from both parties are set to participate in the first ever DC Facebook Hackathon to find new ways to use social media in the political process. [Image Via Facebook]

Creepy Zuckerberg Fan Appears at Carnegie Mellon – A student at a recent Mark Zuckerberg appearance at Carnegie Mellon University instilled fear in the audience, and CEO, when he made some creepy and cryptic comments. The student apparently snuck into the venue the night before to place some speakers under Zuckerberg’s seat.

PayPal Releases Facebook Payment App – PayPal released a Facebook app, Send Money, that allows users to send money to friends without a fee.

Other Announcements:

Coupons.com for Pages – Coupons.com released its Brandcaster Social platfor to allow brands to create secure, printable coupons directly on their Pages in 48 hours or less.

Napkin Labs Brings Crowdsourcing to Pages – Napkin Labs’ Brainstorm app allows brands to gives brands a way to get feedback from fans anything from new products to coming changes.

NASCAR, ESPN to Livestream Driver’s Camera -  NASCAR and ESPN announced that the two will provide a livestream of driver Tony Stewart’s live in-car camera on Facebook during the season finale on Sunday, November 20.

Proposed Law May Affect Facebook IPO – Legislation was introduced in the Senate this week that could result in the delay of Facebook’s IPO. A long-standing finance rule requires that companies with 500 or more shareholders make their finances available to the public (typically prompting companies to also make their stock available to the public). Facebook had accumulated many shareholders from distributing stock to employees and from its shares being bought and sold on private exchanges. The new rule would up the minimum threshold to 2000, presumably giving Facebook more leeway to decide if and when it will make its financial information and its shares public.

Could Yahoo’s Patents Hurt Facebook’s IPO? – Forbes has a piece this week that compared Yahoo’s extensive IP portfolio as potential revenue to Facebook’s ads-centric revenue approach, speculating that whoever owns that IP could charge licensing fees to Facebook.

Facebook Not Planning Taiwan Data Center – Facebook is not set to open Asia’s largest cloud data center in Taiwan, at the Central Taiwan Science Park, contrary to a widely republished article.

Mark Zuckerberg Officially Visits Harvard – The Atlantic gave an overview of Harvard University’s newspaper, The Crimson’s, coverage of Mark Zuckerberg while he attended the school.

Facebook COO to Interview NJ Gov – Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is set to interview New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, taking questions from users in an online town hall Monday. Note that Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to the Newark New Jersey school system. [Image Via Facebook]

Vitrue’s Social Mobile User Engagement Report – Vitrue released a report this week looking at social engagement with brands via mobile devices. Some interesting results included negative engagement with punctuation marks, short posts get more engagement, images improve engagement and weekends are when the most mobile interaction occurs.

How Well Does the Facebook Translate Button Work? – Lexiophiles compiled a brief analysis of how accurate Facebook’s translate button is.

NATO Uses Facebook to Announce Libya Pullout Plans — The Libya commander for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Admiral James Stavridis wrote on his Page today that “I will be recommending conclusion of this mission to the North Atlantic Council of NATO in a few hours.” Wired has more.

Irish Government Considers Fine for Facebook’s Data Retention Policies – This follows revelations that Facebook has continued storing data that users had already deleted, as we covered in detail recently. A commission of the Ireland government (where Facebook’s regional headquarters are based) is investigating if any local or regional laws were broken, and may fine Facebook if it turns out that they were.

Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant Program Concludes Latest Round - The company says it will announce more details about the next submission round later this month. The program lets developers go through a voluntary approval process in order to receive its endorsement — “What separates a Preferred Developer Consultant (PDC) from most other development firms is the ability to understand social mechanics and technical possibilities on Platform,” in Facebook’s words — as well as a place on its Preferred Developer page.

Facebook’s Taylor Says Most Users Change Privacy – Most users of Facebook have altered their privacy settings, Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor said at a conference earlier this week.

Forum for Pages Mimics Facebook Discussions Apps – Forum for Pages is an app that allows Page admins to add a discussion tab to their Page, important since Facebook is set to remove this app from all Pages on October 31. The app allows users to import and save all existing discussions, too.

Sweepstakes With Grand Prizes Make Most Effective Contests – A single, big-ticket grand prize was the most effective incentive for marketers to get users to enter a Facebook contest, according to a study from ShortStack. Becoming “Fan of the Week” was also highly attractive. In terms of entry volume, simple sweepstakes received the most entries, while high-friction video submission contests received the fewest.

Randi Zuckerberg Profile - Randi Zuckerberg was profiled by The New York Times this week, in an attempt by her to establish her identity separately from the company that her younger brother founded.

Facebook Ups Lobbying Dollars in Q3 – The $360,000 is going towards the promotion of its views on a wide variety of issues. As TechCrunch details, this includes “global regulation of software companies and restrictions on internet access by foreign governments; patent reform, online safety measures, internet privacy regulations, freedom of expression on the Internet; discussion of location-based services, cyber security, discussing House, Senate, and Government rules to allow more Government and Congressional offices to access social media to engage with citizens, and lobbying for Oregon power and water needs to support high-tech growth and investment in Oregon.”

Other Announcements:

BranchOut Launches Recruiter Tool - Professional networking app BranchOut launched RecruiterConnect, allowing recruiting to search on Facebook for job candidates from those using the app.

GroSocial Raises $450K - GroSocial raised $450,000 in seed funding this week, led by Kickstart Seed Fund with additional contributions by Monarch Ventures, Rock & Hammer Ventures, plus other angels.

SNAP Interactive Launches Developer Blog – SNAP Interactive launched a developer blog this week.

German Privacy Office Condemns Like Button – The privacy office of Northern German state Schleswig-Holstein has called for a ban of the Like button on grounds that it violates user privacy by sending browsing behavior data to Facebook. Starting at the end of September, it plans to sue German websites still using the plugin for 50,000 euro. Facebook says it is operating in compliance with European data and privacy laws, is approved by German’s central government, and the head of the complaining office, Thilo Weichert, is known to be a grandstander. 

Facebook Claims Ceglia Forged Docs – Facebook’s lawyers have revealed that they believe to be in possession of the “real” contract signed between Mark Zuckerberg and Paul Ceglia, who claims to own half of Facebook. The original contract, Facebook’s lawyers say, does not mention anything about Facebook. This same contract was also found on the servers of a law firm in Chicago. [Image Via Facebook]

Comments Box Helps Websites – A side-by-side comparison by the LA Times of Facebook’s Comments Box social plugin and an unauthenticated identity commenting system showed Facebook’s plugin improved civility of comments, drove more referral traffic, and sped up site loading.

Interpublic Group Sells Half Facebook Stake – IPG sold about half its Facebook stake, initially purchased for $5 million in 2006, for about $133 million this week. Now the group will take its profits and buy $450 million worth in shares.

Apple Store Incorporates Facebook - Apple’s online store now incorporates Facebook and Twitter integrations, allowing customers to share what they plan to purchase.

Facebook, Yahoo Test 6 Degrees of Separation – Facebook and Yahoo have partnered for a social experiment to see by how many associations people around the world are connected. The Small World Experiment will test the hypothesis that people are connected by “six degrees of separation.”

Facebook Publishes Security Guide – Facebook has published “A Guide to Facebook Security”, a 20-page .PDF written by security researchers designed to teach Facebook users how to protect themselves. It outlines how to avoid common scams, use Facebook’s security features, and explains that hackers might pretend to be popular apps like FarmVille, but Zynga and other developers aren’t to blame.

Facebook Zip Code Ad Targeting Inaccuracies - ClickZ reports that some early tests by Ads API developer XA.net indicate that in some cases Facebook may be showing that the expected audience for ads targeted to a specific zip code is higher than the census population for that zip code. This could be due to inaccuracy in how Facebook assigns users a zip code based on the city they list in their profile or where the site believes their IP address is located.

Sony’s PSVita to Include Facebook – Sony’s Vita handheld game console will include Facebook and other social apps when or soon after it launches, according to Electronista. The apps will be available for free on the PlayStation store.

Facebook’s Page Reaches 50 Million Likes — The company has just reached 50 million Likes on its official Page, which is also unsurprisingly the most popular Page on the site.

Ceglia Facebook Ownership Facebook Looking Even Worse — Despite some turgid articles not too long ago about the possibility of upstate New York entrepreneur and scam artist Paul Ceglia winning his court case claiming that he owns half of Facebook, his big-name lawyers recently left. And now, Facebook says it has found “smoking gun” evidence that he fabricated documents purporting to show his ownership stake. It says it can’t reveal the evidence yet, though.

Facebook Expands in London - Facebook is renting a 36,000 square-foot building in London for its 70 employees that will focus on ad sales.

Unauthorized Pages in Users’ Feeds – Some users are reporting that they are seeing Facebook Pages appearing in their news feeds despite having never Liked them. Facebook has yet to confirm the issue. Thanks to Mike for the tip.

Foursquare Makes Pages Self-Serve - Foursquare’s organizational Pages are now self-serve and aimed at allowing brands to market themselves on the platform.

Facebook Becomes Back-to-School Hub – As happened last year, Facebook is set to become a big place for back to school shopping, giving users the chance to win free items, take advantage of limited time deals and receive discounts.

Spam King Sanford Wallace Indicted – Sanford Wallace, known as the Spam King, was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Jose this week for fraud on the Facebook platform. He faces 16 to 40 years in prison, plus fines.

Zuckerberg Named Silicon Valley’s “Worst Dressed” – GQ magazine named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg worst dressed man in Silicon Valley despite some stiff competition. [Image Via David Terrar]

Facebook to Offer Digital Citizenship Grants – Facebook has pledged $200,000 in grant money for research “that improves understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with how kids are growing up in a world of media and technology”, such as cyber bullying prevention.

Other Announcements: 

SocialVibe Focuses on Political Ads – SocialVibe announced this week that it would be offering services tailored specifically to political campaigns and action committees ahead of the 2012 election. The company specializes in digital advertising.

DealBurner Sends Group Deals When You Check In - DealBurner is a new service that sends users alerts when they check in to a location on Facebook Places or Foursquare about daily deals and pre-paid coupons offered at that business. The service aggregates deals from Groupon, LivingSocial, ScoutMob, and more.

Facebook Set for Another Oregon Datacenter – Facebook announced this week that it would build another data center on its Prineville, Oregon campus. Construction is set to begin in October.

Facebook to Expand in Seattle – Facebook is currently looking for more office space in Seattle, according to GeekWire. The company wants as much as 40,000 square feet more that might accommodate about 200 more people (the office is currently at about 40).

Privacy Glitch Makes Videos Public – TechCrunch reported that this week Facebook’s video privacy settings stopped working, allowing users to see listings, names, thumbnails, descriptions and tagged users in others’ videos. The company reported it had addressed the issue.

Alleged Facebook Owner Ceglia’s Case gets Complicated – Paul Ceglia is the man who claims to own half of Facebook. His lawsuit against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg is playing out in New York, and he recently lost a fourth law firm in his case. Edelson McGuire just withdrew from the case, according to AllThingsD, as did DLA Pipe, Lippes Mathias, Wexler Friedman and Connors & Vilardo earlier this year.

Also, a Scathing Profile of Paul Ceglia – The Buffalo News wrote a scathing and very unflattering profile of would-be Facebook co-owner Paul Ceglia. Acquaintances and classmates basically call him a con artist, shyster, joke, grifter, lowlife and more. [Image Via Facebook]

User Ads Generated by Ad Companies – John Battelle wrote an interesting post this week detailing how he found out a company (AppSumo) that wasn’t Facebook was using his likeness in an ad, and that this apparently violated Facebook’s terms of service, promoting the social network to look into the issue.

Topps Buys Facebook Gift Card Provider – AllThingsD reported this week that Topps, the trading card company, purchased GMG Entertainment, the company which makes Facebook Credits gift cards. The terms of the purchase were not released.

Vodafone Releases Facebook Phone – Vodafone’s 555 Blue is a “Facebook phone” designed to be popular in emerging markets like India. The phone allows users to logon to Facebook when the phone is turned on, and open an account if they don’t already have one. [Image Via Vodafone]

LivingSocial Shutters Visual Bookshelf – AllFacebook reported this week that, after four years, LivingSocial is closing its Visual Bookshelf app and encouraging users to export their accounts to GoodReads.

Other Announcements:

Migrate Facebook to Google+ – Lifehacker reported this week on how to migrate your Facebook profile data to Google+.

North Social Releases Facebook Faux Pas – North Social released a series of 11 “fan Page fail” videos this week featuring the hapless Jonny Like who demonstrates what not to do to grow your Page’s community.

Trulia, Real Estate Social Search – Trulia.com is a social recommendation service using Facebook to leverage word-of-mouth when it comes to buying and selling real estate.

Shoutlet Releases 4.0 Analytics – Shoutlet released the 4.0 version of its platform this week with better analytics and the ability to take these and transform them into graphics.