Facebook adds iTunes to Facebook Gifts
The social network continues to beef up its gifting service. This time, it's letting users send digital gifts from Apple.
Facebook and Apple are joining their massive forces again, this time encouraging Facebook users to send iTunes gifts to their friends directly within the social network.
Facebook added iTunes digital gifts to Facebook Gifts gifting service today, letting users send iTunes recommendations along with cash credit for purchases.
A user can search for a specific song, album, movie, game, or apps to recommend along with gifts in denominations of $10, $15, $25, or $50.
The social network's move to add Apple to its retail partner list for Facebook Gifts comes shortly after it announced the inclusion of more thana dozen new partners at a media event earlier this month.
The Apple partnership is an important one for Facebook. Although the social network is reportedly pushing for its employees to use Android phones in hopes of improving its Android apps, Facebook and Apple have close ties; For example, Apple has integrated the social network's sharing feature into iOS 6.
Facebook Gifts already features digital gifts from companies like Hulu, Pandora, and Rdio, but Apple's iTunes gives Facebook a big mainstream tech/media brand to tout as the social network tries to get members to use the new service.
Launched at the end of September with about 100 merchants, the gifting service lets users buy and send gifts right off friends' Timelines and Facebook takes a cut.
Although Facebook won't say how big of a cut it gets from these sales, including the deal with Apple, the new service lets Facebook make money on something other than advertising.