Timeline may be one of the most complained about features Facebook has ever produced, but for companies, it’s been beneficial in a number of ways. Small apps that had no place in Facebook before Timeline launched in February have blossomed in the new environment. Viddy, a program that’s like Instagram but for video, has collected 1.7 million monthly users in a few short months because they launched with timeline. This program, along with Pinterest and Flixter, have also blossomed on timeline because of the new format allowing for such programs to find a home on the almost billion strong website.

The apps feature works much like any other application or game worked before Facebook’s integration of timeline, only now you can add applications to your profile to cue in your friends that you’re using them, potentially creating a word of mouth scenario. For example, Words with Friends was a popular app before the transition to timeline, and it’s only gotten more popular since: when you visit someone’s profile, the app is located at the very top right hand side, indicating that this friend plays Words with Friends. From there, it's only two clicks until you can play, too.

BranchOut and news programs like Washington Post Social Reader and Yahoo! News have also grown at an alarming rate in the last few months because the stories read on them pop up on a friend’s newsfeed.

You don’t have to have a particular app show on your profile, but by default they all do – which means 90% of people won’t opt out and will continue to advertise for apps.

All in all, the transition of Facebook may have not been favorably received by the public, but it means the world to businesses using the “fan page” as well as apps that have begun to flood the market for all to enjoy.