I’m super-excited to be announcing our partnership with SQLstream today, and I think it’s appropriate that we timed it with the Virtual Goods Summit. The technology they provide is particularly applicable to virtual goods, and virtual world economies, and it’s even more applicable for those things on Social Networks.

Imagine being able to monitor purchasing behavior for new virtual goods the minute they deploy. Imagine being able to track all falloff points, from feed notification, to in-game promotion, to storefront bounce and conversion (with multivariate analysis). Correlate these metrics with post-purchase in-game usage, repeat purchases and gifting behavior. We get all this in real-time, iterating and optimizing the entire process in an afternoon.

Imagine the ability to identify corollaries between game-play behavior and conversion to paying user, to monitor the player base in real-time for individuals that meet that criteria, and present them with a customized offer the exact instant they’re most likely to buy. On the flipside, watch for users that are statistically on the verge of quitting, and automatically send them a customized incentive to stay. Even if they are only getting bored, it’s possible to watch for this, and adjust the experience to compensate.

Beyond monetization and user behavior, there is the power to continuously monitor changes in viral distribution on the macro level. As Social Networks change their APIs and policies, we have the power and tools to rapidly iterate on new distribution methods, and identify new opportunities.

It’s pretty heady stuff, but that’s the nearly limitless power of stream computing. We’re very excited to highlight it as an important part of our strategy and vision, to raise the bar for games on social networks and present the best possible experience for our users.