How Facebook knows what’s hot before you do (and why there are so many free utility apps)

Facebook knows what’s hot in mobile perhaps before any other company. And the person Big Blue Social has to thank for it is you.

If data is the new oil, Onavo is a big fat pump in a Texas field, pulling black gold out of the matrix. Facebook acquired the Israeli company in late 2013, and the public statements about Onavo’s place in the Facebook ecosystem were all about using data more efficiently so more people can connect and share.

And, a Facebook representative added, “their analytic tools will help us provide better, more efficient mobile products.”

Indeed.

Get the full story in my latest column on Inc.