INSIDE FACEBOOK — We’ve seen more and more branded social games showing up on Facebook, as marketers try to use game features to promote their products. The latestis Cadbury’s Dairy Milk milk chocolate brand in Australia, with the rhythm game Cadbury Freida Smooth Moves. Cadbury is one of the largest confectioners in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and England (as well as in a few select US stores). The game, it is based on a Cadbury commercial starring the dancing cow Freida, and it is clearly intended as a viral means to advertise the milk chocolate products. It isn’t as sophisticated as, say, some of the major social apps, but it is amusing in its own right...

INSIDE SOCIAL GAMES — More big changes are coming to Facebook’s communication channels this year, as Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor told us in an interview recently. They’re worth a closer look, as they’re likely to impact all developers, and especially social game developers. The first is an automated spam filter for all Facebook communication channels. Granted, the spam problem has lessened as Facebook has removed some entirely, like notifications, or scaled back others, like news feed stories and requests. Here’s the relevant excerpt, from Taylor...

MEDIAPOST — In an effort to more intimately connect female consumers with brands, online publisher Sugar Inc. on Tuesday is expected to launch a social shopping game named Retail Therapy. The game -- which debuts with a number of retail brands, including Banana Republic, Barneys New York, and Diane von Furstenberg -- encourages players to merchandise and design their own fashion boutiques, and dress their characters in popular styles and brands. "We wanted to create an addicting game that would appeal to one of [women's] greatest areas of passion -- fashion," said Brian Sugar, founder and CEO of Sugar Inc...

E-CONSULTANCY.COM — Even if you just go by size, it’s fairly obvious that Facebook is the place to be if you’re running a social media campaign, but with all the competing corporations, brands, celebs and plebs already there, carving out an effective marketing niche can be a challenge for even the most creative marketing team, and the fact that you’re usually working to a tight deadline doesn’t help. The temptation is to jump right in, start adding friends and broadcasting news, events and shopping lists and quizzes straight away in order to produce instant results. On no account should you do this...

MEDIAPOST — Anyone who's had a Facebook friend playing Farmville, Mafia Wars or Café World knows they're extremely popular and addictive for those who play them. Reckitt Benckiser, the company behind brands such as Lysol, Clearasil and Woolite, is launching its own, branded social game for people to learn more about the company, its brands and its work environment. "We realized we had relatively few people who know about us," Andraea Dawson-Shepherd, the company's global communications manager, tells Marketing Daily. "They know the brands, but not the company behind them"...