Ever since Facebook turned Messenger into a platform of its own, we’ve been expecting it to start featuring ads at some point. Apparently, this is actually not so far away actually, because according to a leaked report, ads will be coming to Facebook Messenger soon.
Also Read: Why The Best Facebook Video Ads Are Silent
The leaked report, apparently sent by Facebook to one of its advertisers, showed that ads will be coming to Messenger in the second quarter of 2016. Brands will be able to send ads to users who have started conversations with them on Messenger in the past. In the report, Facebook also apparently encourages advertisers to engage users more in conversations in order to be able to send them ads in the future.
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Also Facebook has apparently created short link URLs with which users can open chats with brands. This is actually available through fb.com/msg/pagename with “pagename” being the name of the specific page to start a conversation with. Finally, Facebook will also be rewarding brands that answer their messages in a timely fashion. Apparently 90% of messages that are answered within 24 hours in a week will then be searchable on Facebook.
In an email to Techcrunch, Facebook answered
[quote]We don’t comment on rumour or speculation. That said, our aim with Messenger is to create a high-quality, engaging experience for 800 million people around the world, and that includes ensuring that people do not experience unwanted messages of any type.[/quote]
So, for whoever thought that this development was just the beginning of spam from pages, can think again… Facebook has so far been very careful about allowing free communication between users and brands. This is obviously to counter spam.
So, what do you think? Will ads on Messenger be something users will appreciate? Will they be something Facebook can capitalise on effectively?
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