Like I said, it’s for Facebook to decide what their Terms of Use mean and how best to enforce it. We’re just interested in making a good product that fills an obvious need in the market. Right now we’re doing more harm than good for Facebook so my argument is that it’s in their best interests to leave us be.

The fact is that Facebook could destroy any app at any time, either explicitly by shutting it down or implicitly by releasing their own, official competitor (see, e.g., the Facebook book marketplace vs. a number of book-related applications). Facebook might also, at any second, release their own ad network, making it much more difficult for companies like The Lookey and SocialMedia to do business.

That there is the potential for defeat is never by itself a sufficient reason to not do something.

It just seems very risky for Altura to invest in a business whose primary operation violates the Facebook TOS. As for Facebook’s interest, they may want to build a better stats app rather than have you leech off them, get publicity on app news, and make a business out of it.

I address this in the Adonomics FAQ: http://adonomics.com/faq.php

In short, it’s not our place to say whether Adonomics (formerly Appaholic) is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. Rather, we’re trusting Facebook to do their due diligence in enforcing it. We do believe, however, that Adonomics is filling a pressing need in the market Facebook created, namely, neutral, third-party metrics about the Platform. It wouldn’t be in their interest to shut us down.