Facebook COO Shifts Europe focus from privacy to economy -  At a recent conference in Europe, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told the audience that the economy is probably more of a concern than privacy. She said so given an impending privacy law draft that would affect 27 European Union countries. Specifically, she suggested that the law could have a negative impact on the EU economy. [Image via Facebook]

Facebook has a €2.6 billion U.K. impact -  A study from Deloitte found that Facebook’s overall economic impact in the United Kingdom was €2.6 billion, or 35,200 jobs in the U.K. and 32,000 jobs in the European Union and Switzerland.

Facebook ads game categories to News Feed -  Facebook now displays the genre category below game names and stories in News Feed stories. As we reported on Inside Social Games, users might be more likely to click on games when they know more about them.

Facebook engineer creates Google hack -  An project called Focus on the User, created in part by a Facebook engineer, provides a bookmarklet that forces Google Search Plus Your World to display results from social networks besides Google+.

Causes now a standalone website – TechCrunch reported that the charity app Causes has re-launched as a standalone website.

85K Arab Facebook logins hacked – ZDnet reported that Israel and Saudi Arabia are in the midst of a hacking war, and 85,000 Arab Facebook logins are one casualty.

Washington state AG targets clickjackers -  Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna announced suits against two companies thought to encourage clickjacking on Facebook. The suit was announced at Facebook’s Seattle office.

Facebook registers ‘FB Origin’ domain - Facebook registered several domains, .com and .biz for example, for something called FB Origin via the company MarkMonitor.  Fusible speculated that this means the company is set to launch a new product along with Timeline apps.

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.

A number of scammers are taking advantage of Timeline backlash by developing pages that include deceptive instructions on how to revert to the old profile. These fraudulent Facebook pages prompt users to click a number of Like buttons, invite friends, watch YouTube videos and download files. Timeline, however, is permanent once a user opts in to try it, and will be mandatory across the site within weeks.

Despite Facebook’s efforts to educate users about the new profile, some people have misconceptions that make them susceptible to scams like these. We have found 16 Timeline-related scam pages, which have collectively gained more than 71,000 likes. The largest, with nearly 19,000 likes, has been around for at least two weeks. These pages are among the top search results when searching Facebook for “timeline.”

The social network has been unable to keep up with the volume of pages that are fraudulent or otherwise in violation of Facebook terms. There are few, if any, preventative measures to keep these pages from being created. The company relies on users to report pages after the fact. Systems prioritize these reports and a team of reviewers respond by removing the page or alerting law enforcement if necessary. With 800 million people using the site, many issues can be resolved this way, but the new crop of Timeline-related scams shows the need for improvement, both in reducing Facebook scams and helping users understand how to protect themselves.

“We work hard to educate users on how to be safe through our blog and the Facebook and Facebook Security pages,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “We regularly update the Facebook Security page and its over 5 million fans with tips and information about new threats. We also work with outside experts on education initiatives.”

As of this writing, the Facebook Security page has not warned users of claims to deactivate Timeline. There is also nothing in the Help Center explicitly telling people that the feature cannot be removed.

Users who find fraudulent pages should use the “Report Page” button on the lower left hand side of the page.

Facebook’s “Move fast and break things” mantra was put into action again this year as the company overhauled a number of its products, introduced many new features and eliminated old functionality. Here is a month-by-month review of changes that most affected users, marketers and developers on the platform in 2011.

January

Redesigned Profiles
Facebook started the year with a new look for profile pages. With Timeline on everyone’s minds now, it can be easy to forget that 12 months ago the social network had redesigned profiles to include more photos and information at a glance, eliminating the horizontal tab structure that had been in place since 2008.

All-in-One Messaging
Users began to get access to the new Messages product, which groups all direct messages between users whether they are viewing a conversation from the inbox, chat window or mobile.

Sponsored Stories
In an effort to make advertising more relevant by including social context, Facebook introduced Sponsored Stories that allow advertisers to pay to promote activity on the site, such as likes or check-ins. The company added more Sponsored Story types in April and June.

Memorable Status Updates
Perhaps hinting at the nostalgia-inducing Timeline to come later in the year, Facebook began displaying users’ status updates and stories from the past.

Secure Browsing
Facebook started giving users the option of accessing Facebook over an encrypted connection and encouraged developers to obtain a Secure Sockets Layer certificate to make their iframe apps accessible to users with secure browsing enabled. Since then, the company has prompted users to switch to HTTPS and made SSL certificates mandatory for all developers.

February

Page Redesign
Page owners got a number of new features to help them manage their communities. These included activity notifications, “Use Facebook as a Page,” and a spam filter for comments. Fan pages were also designed to look more like the new user profiles and place pages, which displayed applications vertically on the left hand side rather than in tabs across the top. Advertisers also gained the option of driving ads to any landing tab, not just the default.

Improved Like Button 
Clicking the Like Button began sharing full-sized stories in the News Feed rather than the one-line Recent Activity stories it previously generated. This along with the Send button that came in April have replaced the Share button, which Facebook no longer supports.

Real-Time Commenting
Facebook made commenting more like chat by removing the “Post” button and instead publishing comments after a user hits “enter” on the keyboard. Since this leads to more accidental comments, Facebook later began giving users a 12-second window to edit their comment.

March

Questions
After a Q&A product similar to Quora never made it out of beta in 2010, Facebook relaunched Questions as a poll feature aimed at helping users get recommendations from their friends. Pages began using the feature to engage their fans with questions that had a more viral effect than plain-text posts.

Deals Subscription Service
Facebook seemed to be taking on Groupon when it began a new pre-paid deals service for users in select cities, but it discontinued the test in August.

April

Updated Groups
Ahead of the rumored Google+ launch, Facebook made improvements to its Groups product aimed at helping people share with subsets of their friends. Most notably, group admins gained the ability to approve people before they are added to the group. Users could now also upload photo albums or ask Questions within groups.

Send Button
The Send button was introduced as a way for people to share articles and third-party websites with groups of friends, whereas the Like button posts to all a users’ friends.

May

New Ad Analytics
Facebook made several changes to its advertising analytics dashboard to focus on performance indicators such as Page Likes, app installs and social reach, rather than older online advertising metrics such as CPM.

Recommend This Place
The social network implemented a recommendation box on place pages (and fan pages that included an address) so that users can share their opinions about a location or a business.

Tag Pages in Photos
Users and pages gained the ability to tag other pages in photos they share on the site. This increases the reach of any given photo and builds additional connections between users and pages.

June

Happening Now: Prelude to Ticker
Facebook began testing a “Happening Now” module on the right hand side of the page. This later became the Ticker, which shows more recent activity from your friends, including comments, page likes and now Open Graph activity like listening to a song in Spotify.

July

Mandatory Credits
All developers on the Facebook platform became required to use Credits as the sole payment option for their social games. The company had announced a July 1 deadline at the beginning of the year and then added additional payment options and feedback channels for developers over the next few months to support the transition.

Video Calling and Group Chat
Teaming up with Skype, Facebook integrated video calling into its chat product. The social network also expanded group chat to friends who were not already in designated groups. Users can now add any friend to a chat conversation.

August

Revised Privacy Controls
The company simplified its privacy settings page and moved controls to the profile editor and news feed publisher. Users also gained the ability to approve tags in photos, check-ins and statuses.

Canvas App Page Changes

Facebook made several changes to the Canvas Page, bookmarking and games stories in the news feed in order to improve game discovery, retention and user experience. The redesign added a real-time activity ticker dedicated to stories about a user’s friends engaging with games.

Expanded Ads API
Facebook brought its ad API out of private beta and began allowing more developers to build tools and services that programmatically create, buy and manage Facebook ad campaigns.

Standalone Messenger App
Moving away from its all-in-one mobile application strategy, Facebook released Messenger as a separate app to rival texting and group chat alternatives.

New Locations App for Pages
Some corporations gained access to a beta product that allows them to designate multiple locations under a parent page and include a store finder on the page.

September

Timeline
At F8, Facebook unveiled a new version of user profiles that organizes stories in a timeline format, giving users the option to add life events to any point in their personal history.

Open Graph Application Platform
Along with Timeline, the company announced a new way to connect people and objects beyond the Like button. Developers will be able to make apps that let users share what they are reading, watching, listening to, cooking and more. Along with this comes “frictionless sharing” and additional avenues for app discovery.

Reconfigured News Feed
To accommodate this new type of Open Graph app, Facebook redesigned the home page to include News Feed and Ticker.

Subscribe
Facebook introduced a new one-way follow dynamic with its Subscribe button. Users can subscribe to the public updates of anyone who allows subscribers. This gives the social network a way to compete with Twitter and Google+.

Smart Lists
The social network introduced Smart Lists to automatically group users’ friends by location, workplace and school. As users become comfortable with Facebook grouping friends automatically, we could see Facebook’s algorithms creating more nuanced lists that compete with Google’s Circles feature.

October

Mobile Platform
After much speculation, the company unveiled a way to help mobile developers market their native and HTML5-based apps through its platform. Developers can now take advantage of bookmarks, requests and the news feed in the same way that Facebook canvas developers do.

Talking About This
Facebook added a new public metric to pages called “Talking About This.” This metric encourages pages to think about engagement, not just accumulating Likes.

iPad Application
Facebook released its official iPad app after months of leaks and rumors about its development.

November

Sponsored Stories in Ticker
The social network began showing Sponsored Story ads in the Ticker, signaling more lines being blurred between paid and organic content in the future. The company later told us Sponsored Story ads will be shown within the News Feed starting in 2012.

December

Timeline Goes Live
Facebook began its global release of the Timeline profile developers had gotten a preview of at F8. Timeline is still opt-in for users until sometime in early 2012. The company also debuted Timeline on mobile devices for the first time.

Coupon Test
We discovered Facebook testing a new coupon post feature for pages that could have big implications for next year. Pages that are part of this beta can offer discounts and promote them with Sponsored Stories.

Private Message Test
We have also seen the social network testing a way for users to privately message page owners. This, too, could have a big impact for people using Facebook for business in 2012.

Europe Stifling Facebook’s Targeted Ads – The European Union is set to enact legislation to ban some avenues Facebook uses to create targeted ads, specifically by making Facebook be more transparent about what user data it’s collecting.

Spotify Opens Platform to Developers – Spotify announced the company would open its platform to app developers to include things like reviews and song lyrics, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Facebook May Allow Gambling in UK - Facebook is exploring opening up the platform to gambling in the United Kingdom, according to TechCrunch, maybe as soon as 2012.

Mobile Channels Pushing Traffic for SNAP Interactive - SNAP Interactive told TechCrunch that Facebook’s recently launched mobile channels have given the company’s apps a “significant” traffic boost.

WashPo Reader Boasts 3.5M Users – The Washington Post Social Reader now boasts more than 3.5 million subscribers, according to a company statement. The growth came in just two months and is especially popular with users under 35, 83% to be exact.

Other Announcements:

Liquidus Releases Socialink 2.0 - Liquidus released the new version of its marketing application for car retailers, Socialink 2.0. New features include video integrations.

Secure.me App Protects Users on Facebook – Secure.me is an app that protects users from over-sharing or phishing from viruses on Facebook.

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’s Law Enforcement Rules - Hackers claiming to be with Anonymous published a few documents outlining how law enforcement agencies may obtain user data.

Facebook Users Separated by 4.74 Friends – Facebook and the University of Milan conducted a study to determine how many degrees of separation exist between users on the platform. Turns out that users are separated by just 4.74 intermediate connections, according to ZDnet. [Image Via ZDnet]

Facebook Testing Windows Client – Facebook is in the testing stage of a Messenger for Windows desktop integration. ZDNet reported that the app requires Windows 7 and supports chat, news ticker and notifications.

Skype Now Directly Tied Into Facebook – Users utilizing Windows or Mac clients for Microsoft’s Skype VoIP may now launch a Skype call without leaving the platform, reported Information Week.

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.

Swedish Govt May See All Data in New Servers – Sweden’s 2008 law, FRA, allows the government to see any Internet data passing its borders without a warrant. Since the company is set to build a data center there, this potentially means Facebook users’ data could become a target of this law, according to a report.

Cogenra Solar to be Installed at Facebook’s CA HQ – Cogenra Solar is set to install a renewable energy project at Facebook’s new headquarters in Menlo Park, California. According to a statement, the project will provide on site electricity production, hot water, and be integrated into the top of the building’s fitness center to power gym equipment, light and water for the showers.

Most Expect Candidates to be on Social Media – Digitas released a study this week noting that 61% of social media users expect to see candidates on social media platforms like Facebook.

Facebook Seattle Changes Offices - Facebook Seattle is changing office location. There are currently 60 employees but room for up to 200.

Facebook Not Worried About Messages Threat – CDW consultant Nathan Power found a way to send a malicious attachment to other Facebook users. Facebook responded that this threat is no different than the ones faced by other email providers, and requires “an additional layer of social engineering.“ Plus, there are easier ways to get malware to users.

Ceglia Ordered to Return to the U.S. – Paul Ceglia, who claims to own half of Facebook, had fled to Ireland but was ordered by a federal judge to return to New York in order to search for a missing flash drive which may contain pertinent evidence. Ceglia claims the flash drive was lost.

Facebook is showing new signs of maturity and a willingness to tackle tough, unsexy problems. In the last few days it’s made four announcements around hardware efficiency and cybersecurity: the opening of a self-cooling server farm in the Arctic, the launch of its Open Compute foundation for infrastructure open sourcing, details on its Facebook Immune System for thwarting hackers and spammers, and the release of new login security features for users.

Even though Facebook is a fail fast-style startup run by a young CEO, it’s concentrating on stability. This means reducing both server costs and the vulnerability of the user experience to malicious parties trying to exploit it. As the company heads towards an IPO, these long term efforts could bolster confidence in potential investors.

Facebook stepped up efforts to create cheap, environmentally friendly data centers today with the announcement of plans to build a new server farm in Luleå, Sweden. Just south of the Arctic Circle, the area is cold enough that no air conditioning will be required to cool the 11 football fields-worth of servers, reports The Telegraph. The site was specifically chosen because of its proximity to hydroelectric dams on the Lule River and the prevalence of fibre optic cable in the region

With no cooling costs, low-cost energy to power the servers, and high data transfer speeds means that the Luleå Data Center will be even more efficient than Facebook’s stateside Prineville, OR and Rutherford, NC centers. Facebook’s willingness to scout so far from home for a location shows its global orientation.

Facebook launched the Open Compute Project in April to open source server and data center designs in hopes of improving efficiency for itself and all other data-heavy companies. It could also be designed to reduce the competitive advantage of companies such as Google that don’t reveal their designs. Now Facebook has formed a non-profit foundation to run the project. Partners include Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Baidu, and Mozilla.

By spearheading the open source project, Facebook intends to cull innovation from around the world to make sure its hardware is efficient as possible without tackling the research and associated costs all on its own. This will allow it to focus resources elsewhere so it can retain its efficiency and small headcount.

Less than 0.5% of Facebook users experience spam each day in part thanks the the Facebook Immune System. The defense system, run by a 30- person security team, is designed to weed out spam and malicious links. It analyzes up to 650,000 user actions per second and 2 trillion link clicks per day, the company recently revealed to New Scientist. Though it may temporarily annoy users, new stats show that Facebook blocks 220 million malicious actions and 250,000 to 600,000 accounts a day to keep threats from spreading.

In case a user’s account is hacked, Facebook is providing more ways for them to regain access. These include Social Authentication that lets users identify friends in photos to prove they’re an account owner, and the Trusted Friends feature announced this week, that sends an access code to a locked out user’s closest friends who can share it with them so they can login again.

These security features on the front and back end keep users from having the terrible experience of a sustained loss of access to their account that can push them and the friends they complain to away from Facebook. In the future, the combination of security precautions and Facebook’s 300-person security and safety team could help it fend off massive attacks that could disrupt service and shake faith in its reliability as a communication medium.

The past few years have seen Facebook grow its user base to 800 million, producing a network effect that protects it from competitors. It has relentlessly evolved its product, even when users were resistant to change, allowing it to incorporate ideas that could have disrupted it had it remained stagnant. It’s created a lucrative Platform developers want to build on. Finally, its turned its Pages and advertising products into central components of brand and local marketing, giving it the money to fund innovation elsewhere. All the core pieces of its business are in place.

These latest improvements to efficiency and security might not be as flashy as a redesign or product launch, but they strengthen the service in ways it was moving too fast to focus on when it was younger. While only seven years old, Facebook is looking more and more like an established, sophisticated company ready to deliver value for a long time into the future — in time for the initial public offering that it is said to be planning for next year.

[Image credit: Fast Company]