Facebook calls for mobile browser and payment standardization

Since introducing Open Graph, Facebook has driven huge amounts of traffic to external sites like Digg with the sharing feature. Meanwhile, mobile use of the social network has risen over 20 percent, much of that on browsers rather than dedicated apps, and it looks like Facebook is trying to leverage that growth with an increased focus on mobile web apps. This morning, the company announced that it was joining the new W3C Core Mobile Web Platform Community Group, an “industry-wide effort to help accelerate the improvement and standardization of mobile browsers.” It’s also releasing Ringmark, a testing platform for mobile apps.

On the payment side, Facebook is working with AT&T, Orange, Verizon, Vodafone, and other carriers to implement a “streamlined billing” method that would let app purchases be charged directly through their phone operator. Facebook hasn’t been too fast about rolling out Open Graph and Timeline features in general, so these new projects could take a while, but it looks like the company is serious about both expanding its mobile market and monetizing the traffic it drives.