Research

The debate that erupted last week over marketing offers within social games — namely, that third-party offers for virtual currency used by gamers include scams that trick people into unwanted subscriptions — shook the fast-growing social games sector. In the short term, there’s some resolution to the story, as the sunlight on this issue has provided some disinfectant. But longer term, things are going to get trickier. Social gaming companies like Zynga have demonstrated such success in monetizing social network users that their methods are bound to seep outside the virtual worlds of games to permeate the larger world of the social networks themselves. The real challenge will be learning all the pitfalls and hazards of using personal information increasingly as a form of currency.…