The Facebook platform game FarmVille now supports the Facebook Credits virtual currency . The popular online game uses two units of in-game currency: Farm Cash and Farm Coins. Previously, you could buy them with a credit card or PayPal. Now the game offers Facebook Credits as an option. Facebook Credits are the number-one option, actually. They’re the default payment choice, featured at the top of the list pictured here. We recently learned that Facebook takes 30% of developers’ Facebook Credits revenue — the same percentage that Apple takes from its iPhone and iPod touch App Store sales. Analysts have speculated that Facebook might surpass $1 billion in revenue this year, and the social network’s virtual currency could be a vital part of growth beyond that. This new option in FarmVille is arguably bigger for Facebook Credits than it is for the game. FarmVille has more than 80 million users , making it bigger than Twitter . Exposure to an audience that large is an important milestone for the Facebook Credits project, which has been a slowly expanding experiment up until now. Tags: facebook , facebook credits , facebook platform , farmville , microtransactions , online games , virtual currency , Zynga

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FarmVille Adds Facebook Credits Payment Option

Small wonder that new local web tools are appearing with increasing frequency. Just yesterday, Foursquare joined the fray , offering local analytics tools to merchants. Full results of the survey are not yet available, but some interesting data points were made public. On average, consumers use 7.9 different media sources when shopping for products or services in their local area, up from 6.5 sources in 2009 and 5.8 in 2008. 58 percent of respondents report using an online coupon when shopping for products or services in their local area in the past year. 19 percent of respondents report making an appointment online in the past six months for a service other than a restaurant reservation, such as a business or health-care appointment, auto service, or personal service such as a beauty salon). This last item is of particular interest, given the ability to make appointments online is anything but widespread. Clearly, it’s a site function consumers are prepared to embrace once adoption increases.

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Internet is indispensible when it comes to local shopping