Big App Acquisition Turns Facebook into 'Real Platform'

'Where I've Been' - monetized by the bonafide 'Platform' Think an app on its own can't be worth $3 million? Apparently the "Where I've Been" application, featured on Facebook, is. Travel company TripAdvisor has shelled out $3 million, the largest Facebook app acquisition to date, for Where I've Been by Craig Ulliott. The acquisition is "the first major successful exit of a Facebook application since the Platform launched," according to Inside Facebook. "This means Facebook is a real platform," said Founder Naval Ravikant of Hitforge. Ravikant, a "Facebook platform" investor, admits to thinking Ulliott sold too early. Nonetheless, "$3M is a great return for the amount of time he invested." Where I've Been has collected 2.3 million users in the handful of months since Facebook first opened to outside apps a few months ago. When the site experienced a deluge of outside applications and a spike in user activity, LinkedIn followed suit. MySpace is also considering the move.