1）据多方消息透露，休闲游戏公司PopCap Games有可能以10亿美元以上的价格出售，只是关于买主是谁的问题各方答案不一，众说纷纭。之前有观察者猜测，能完成如此大手笔收购交易非社交游戏巨头Zynga莫属，但TechCrunch的消息源称Zynga开出的价格并不符合PopCap的预期。

PopCap revenue(from insidesocialgames)

PopCap全年收益为1亿至1.5亿美元，传闻称收购价格是其收益的10倍左右，因此也有消息称大牌视频游戏公司艺电（游戏邦注：目前市值达74.9亿美元，曾在2009年出手4亿美元收购Playfish）才是买家；甚至还有人称这家神秘莫测的公司来自亚洲，并称中国腾讯就是最有竞争力的候选人。

PopCap早先已传出将于今年底上市的消息，曾在2009年10月融资2250万美元。

2）Ohanarama最近发布了一个家庭成员社交平台，支持用户通过Ohanarama.com和Ohanarama Facebook应用这两个平台设置其他家庭成员帐号，邀请他们在该平台交流和互动。Ohanarama引用Pew Research Center最近的调查结果称，58%年龄介于65至73岁的成人，76%介于56至64岁的成人是网络用户；34%介于65至73岁的用户，以及43%介于56至64岁的用户使用社交网络。

ohanarama(from pokedstudio.com)

美国退休者协会（AARP）祖父母信息中心资料显示，45%的祖父母与孙子女相隔千里，有三分之一以上50多岁的老人使用社交网络与孙辈们交流。Ohanarama公司CEO及联合创始人Jane Hoffer则表示，大家庭也是一个原始的社交网络，它与子女的成长密不可分，很有必要加强天各一方的家庭成员之间的交流和互动。

3）社交网站Tagged日前发布一个新版免费的黑莓应用，支持黑莓手机用户在路途中获得该平台的社交体验。这个新产品是一个在Tagged移动网络运行的原生应用，它将原始设备和HTML这两个领域的技术结合起来，只要Tagged更新其移动网站，这个黑莓应用也会自动随之更新。

Tagged在数月之前发布了新版iPhone应用，随后又推出了Android版本，其移动网页版本在件初上线，支持各种手机用户通过HTML浏览器访问该网站。

4）据Harris Interactive及VOIP服务公司Rebtel最近展开的一项调查表明，在2300名美国成人受访者中，多数人更愿意使用语音通话服务，74%用户称手机是他们与朋友保持联络的重要工具，81%用户称手机是他们与家人通话的首选。尽管短信服务和社交网络多少改变了人们沟通的方式，但目前无法取代语音通话服务的地位。

mobile phone user(from dailymail.co.uk)

该调查还指出，在用户与朋友、家人、其他重要人物和同事这四类联系人的交流中，用户往往更愿意与前三类人通过语音方式进行联络；而针对同事这一群体，有43%受访者称他们情愿发送电子邮件与对方交流，22%选择的是语音通话服务，12%选择的是短信方式，还有6%使用社交网络。

5）eMarketer预测2011年美国社交游戏收益将超过10亿美元，其今年5月份调查则表明，半数以上年龄介于18至44岁的美国网民每天都玩社交游戏。

在这些每天都玩社交游戏的用户中，男性占54%，女性占46%；在平板电脑用户中，三分之二受访者自称每天都玩游戏，一半以上智能手机用户也有同样倾向。

多数玩家称自己玩游戏是为了打发时间，但也有14%受访者表示自己在每天上班之余会玩一个小时的《FarmVille》或《宝石迷阵》之类的游戏。

US internet users who play social games daily(from eMarketer)

不少网民称愿意通过电子邮件收到广告以获知新产品消息，但也有五分之二者称更希望通过在线游戏了解新产品，这一比例比传统媒体广告多一个百分点。

在喜欢参与社交挑战的用户中，57%受访者称产品折扣奖励可“极大刺激”他们完成任务的积极性，37%用户称这种奖励在“有点诱人”，忠诚项目积分奖励至少吸引了88%的受访者。任务挑战项目对用户极具吸引力，但对三分之一玩家来说，社区地位这种奖励却并无多大意义。

6）在本周DAU增长最快的Facebook游戏榜单中，西班牙巴塞罗纳开发商Social Point表现最为抢眼（游戏邦注：该公司最著名的游戏是中世纪主题的城建游戏《Social Empires》，它也是Social Point在Facebook上最大的用户流量来源），有三款西班牙语游戏（《Revienta el teclado》、《Perro Saltarín》和《Super Billares》）和两款英语游戏（《Mahjong Zen》和《Super Crayon》）在本周榜单亮相。

不过这份榜单前10名席位，仍然被《FarmVille》、《Diamond Dash》、《FrontierVille》、《Zoo World》等大家熟悉的游戏所占据。

Top Gainers This Week-Games(from AppData)

7）by MBA Program Info最近发布了一份Facebook VS.谷歌的实力对比图，表明Facebook的在线展示广告收益较为领先，但搜索引擎巨头谷歌的影响力仍然居首。该图表指出，Facebook用户目前接近7亿大关，但谷歌用户却已覆盖10亿多用户。

Facebook的广告每点击成本是55美分，而谷歌则是54美分；Facebook在2010年在线展示广告收益达22亿美元，而谷歌则是11.5亿美元。Facebook在2010年总营收约为20亿美元，而谷歌则是惊人的290亿美元（详见下图）。

Facebook VS.Google(from MBA Program Info)

8）搜索引擎优化公司Single Grain最近调查表明，20%美国用户是社交游戏玩家，其中35%之前从未体验电子游戏；55%社交游戏玩家是女性，男性用户为45%，78%女性玩家曾通过广告推广购买虚拟货币；约有半数用户登陆Facebook直奔社交游戏(详见下图）。

Zynga公司有90%的收益来自虚拟商品交易；每五个Facebook用户中就有一者是《FarmVille》玩家，这些美国虚拟农民与真实农民的数量对比是80：1。值得注意的是，调查还发现美国商业改善局在过去36个月中处理了436桩与Zynga有关的投诉事件。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Social Gaming(from Single Grain)

1）PopCap Games To Be Acquired For $1 Billion+

Jason Kincaid

Huge news in the gaming world: PopCap Games, the company behind such hits as Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled, is in the process of being acquired — and we’re hearing from multiple sources that the price is over $1 billion.

The question now is who the buyer is. The obvious possibility is Zynga, which has made a string of game-related acquisitions over the last year. But we’re hearing they’re out. Our sources say that Zynga did indeed kick the tires hard on a potential acquisition, but it looks like the company couldn’t get comfortable with the price PopCap was asking for.

Popcap’s revenues are in the range of $100-150 million, we hear — and a price of over $1 billion would have put the deal at a possible 10x multiple, which may have been too rich for Zynga’s blood. So who else could it be?

We’ve heard that it might be videogaming powerhouse Electronic Arts, though the acquisition would be a very large one for the company (EA’s market cap is $7.49 billion). That said, it wouldn’t be EA’s first big bet on a hot gaming startup: they acquired Playfish in 2009 for up to $400 million after earnouts.

Another possibility would be a company in Asia that’s looking to break into the stateside gaming market, similar to the idea behind DeNA’s $300 million+ acquisition of ngmoco last October. One candidate is massive Chinese company Tencent, which has a massive market cap (and some games of their own). But there are other possibilities that would fit that profile as well — we’ll keep digging）

PopCap was previously rumored to be exploring a possible IPO later this year. The company raised $22.5 million in October 2009..（source:techcrunch)

2）Ohanarama Connects Families Internally

By Thorsten Bleich

Ohanarama has launched its platform where families can connect, learn and play together. The community (Ohana means “family” in Hawaiian) engages extended family members of all ages by tapping into their natural social and competitive spirit through quizzes, contests and fun family games. Through Ohanarama.com or the Ohanarama Facebook app, parents register, set up their kids’ accounts, and invite family members to join in family computer time by linking into the secure, private family network.

Ohanarama is referring to a recent study by the Pew Research Center which claims that 58 percent of adults ages 65-73, and 76 percent of adults ages 56-64 go online; and 34 percent of adults ages 65-73, and 43 percent of adults ages 56-64 use a social network site. “Research indicates that 45 percent of grandparents live more than 200 miles away from their grandchildren, and that more than one-third of people ages 50 and older who use social networking sites are linked to their grandchildren (AARP),” said Amy Goyer, former National Coordinator of the AARP Grandparent Information Center.  “The extended family is the original social network and an integral part of a child’s growth and development, but with families living farther apart than ever before, opportunities for kids to play and interact in person with extended family members are becoming more and more rare,” comments Jane Hoffer, Ohanarama’s CEO and Co-Founder.（source:socialgamesobserver）

3）Tagged Launches New Blackberry App

By Thorsten Bleich

Social network Tagged today unveils its new and free BlackBerry app that enables users to stay connected on-the-go using their BlackBerry mobile devices. The new Tagged BlackBerry app is a native app which runs on Tagged’s mobile website. This app combines the two worlds of native device and HTML: Every time Tagged updates its Mobile Web, the BlackBerry app is automatically updated as well. “Increasing mobile connectivity options and offerings for our users continues to be a major priority in 2011,” said Tagged’s CEO Greg Tseng. “The new Tagged BlackBerry app further compliments an entire suite of mobile Tagged products and services for consumers to meet new people on the Internet.” Several months ago Tagged introduced its new iPhone app,which was recently followed by the launch of its Android app. Earlier this year, Tagged also created its Mobile Web, an optimized version of Tagged, that’s built to be accessible on all mobile devices with an HTML browser.（source:socialgamesobserver）

4）New Survey Finds Americans Still Prefer the Phone Over Email, Texting, Social Networks

By Audrey Watters

I think I could live quite happily without the “phone” part of my mobile phone. Other than taking press briefings and calling my parents, I rarely use my iPhone for actual calls. I’d rather text or IM. But according to survey results released today, it looks like my preferred methods of communication don’t match most Americans’.

A survey of 2300 adults, conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by the VOIP service Rebtel, found that Americans still overwhelmingly prefer to communicate by voice. 74% of respondents said that the phone was how they keep in touch with friends and 81% said it’s their preferred method of communicating with family members.

Although text-messaging and social networking have no doubt changed some of the ways we communicate, they have yet to unseat voice and the phone as the primary communication tool. “Today’s results are a tell-tale sign that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and nothing comes close to replacing the familiar sound of a loved one’s voice at the other end of the line,” says Andreas Bernstrom, Rebtel’s CEO.

The survey does lump “voice” into one category, which is a pity as it would be interesting to see the breakdown between traditional phone calls and VOIP services, like Rebtel and Skype – in terms of both usage and preference. Regarding the video calling that some VOIP services offer, however, the numbers still look quite low: 13% use video chat to talk to family, 9% use it to talk to friends and just 6% use it to talk to their significant other.

The survey looks at the preferences for communicating with friends, family, significant others and co-workers. In three of those four categories, voice is the number one choice. When it comes to our work colleagues, however, we prefer to send email: 43% of respondents said they would choose email, 33% would choose voice/phone, 12% would text, and just 6% would use social networking sites to communicate with co-workers.（source:readwriteweb）

5）Web Users Welcome Brands to Social Games

Players want discounts, loyalty program points as gaming rewards

Social gaming has become a mass phenomenon for Generation X and millennial adults, according to research from Saatchi & Saatchi and Ipsos OTX MediaCT. eMarketer believes US social gaming revenues will pass $1 billion this year, and a May 2011 survey of US internet users ages 18 to 44 found that half play social games every day.

Those daily players include 54% of men and 46% of women in the studied age group. Among tablet owners, two-thirds reported gaming each day; more than half of smartphone owners said the same.

Many players reported participating in the games to kill time, but many took their gaming habit to work with them, with 14% saying they played games like FarmVille and Bejeweled Blitz at work for at least an hour each day.

Fortunately for marketers, many players welcome brands into the environment where they spend so much time. While internet users in this age group still prefer email updates as the best way to learn about new products, nearly two in five chose an online game as a preferred route to new product knowledge—a percentage well above that for traditional media advertising.

Most players are interested in social challenge features of the games they play, and that’s one place where brands can enter the picture, the research found. Among respondents interested in completing social challenges, 57% found product discounts a “very compelling” incentive to complete them, while another 37% found them “somewhat compelling.” Loyalty program points were considered at least somewhat compelling by 88% of respondents. Challenges that could result in direct social action were also highly motivating, but status in the community was an insufficient reward for one-third of players, suggesting brands could spur interest by developing sponsorship opportunities in this area.（source:emarketer）

6）Social Point Steals Several Spots on This Week’s List of Fastest-Growing Facebook Games by DAU

By AJ Glasser

Barcelona-based developer Social Point has a slew of titles on this week’s list of fastest-growing Facebook games by daily active users as tracked by AppData, but it’s familiar favorites like Diamond Dash and FarmVille that dominate the top 10.

Note that Zoo World is still reflecting a strong spike as developer RockYou is currently running the game’s sequel, Zoo World 2, via the same app ID. You can read our review of the new game here.

Social Point is perhaps best known for its medieval-themed city-building strategy game, Social Empires, which is still the developer’s number one game in terms of its overall Facebook traffic. The Spanish-language apps featured on today’s list — Revienta el teclado, Perro Saltarín, Super Billares — range from simple arcade style games to pool simulations. Social Point also has a few of its English-language titles making appearances this week, like Mahjong Zen and Super Crayon. While we can’t know for sure the exact origins of this influx of users across all Social Point games, an ad campaign or cross-game promotion could be a possibility. （source:insidesocialgames）

7）INFOGRAPHIC: Facebook Versus Google

Posted by Jackie Cohen

Facebook might have pulled ahead of Google in online display ad sales, but the search engine is still a much bigger company.

That’s the gist of the visual comparison of the two companies put together by MBA Program Info. Some of the data could use updating — for instance, Facebook’s membership is approaching the 700 million mark — but the overall theme of the graphic is correct.

For instance, the infographic says the social network has a higher average cost per click, 55 cents, compared to 54 cents for Google — it’s possible these numbers have gone up but the point is, Facebook is still ahead on that score.

Readers, feel free to point out any other data discrepancies in the comments section beneath this post.（source:allfacebook）

8）Better Business Bureau processed 436 Zynga complaints in 36 months, study says

by Joe Osborne

And several other, more happy-go-lucky statistics were included in a study conducted by Single Grain, an SEO firm. The study reveals interesting statistics like of the 20 percent of people in US that have played a social game, 35 percent of them have never played a video game before. Of course, the seven ways of telling us that more women play Facebook games than men are included. (It’s just not a survey without them.)

However, as you scroll down the infographic, the findings become a bit darker (and weirder), like Single Grain’s finding that, “The Better Business Bureau processed 436 complaints about Zynga in the last 36 months.” And to think that 90 percent of the company’s revenue is thanks to virtual goods purchases. Speaking of weirder, did you know that the FarmVille maker’s employees, when chosen for quarterly awards, have a choice between “a car filled with vested stock” or “a weekend spree in a $200,000 Lamborghini?”

It’s true, and they’re even offered trips to Vegas with acupuncture and massage treatments. In addition to one in every five Facebook users having played FarmVille, digital farmers outnumber real farmers in the US 80 to one. Not to mention half of all Facebook log-ins are to play games. According to Single Grain’s findings, Zynga is having a grand old time–except for those nasty BBB reports. Oh well, there’s always Vegas to help wash those worries away.（source:games）