Facebook has just announced that the ads within Messenger are already open to all advertisers. The new company move had been leaked earlier this year, now as part of the latest upgrade to the platform, this feature is open to any advertiser who wants to use it.
This means that you could now find ads in your News section that would allow you to click to go directly to a conversation in Messenger with a brand or company. In addition to this, if you have had some kind of conversation in the past with any company, this could pay Facebook to send you messages sponsored through Messenger.
Facebook started testing these ads about six months ago with a small group of brands and users. Today, during the 2016 Web Summit in Dublin, Facebook’s vice president of messaging products, David Marcus has announced that thanks to the initial success of companies in reaching users through Messenger, the company has decided to expand the feature.
“Users will have control”
The company led by Mark Zuckerberg has wanted to emphasize that users will have control over interactions. If at any point a company tries to start a conversation with you and you are not interested, you can block them.
Advertising within Messenger will also take advantage of the chatbots that the social network recently introduced. The main purpose of these was to allow users to communicate with businesses without having to download an additional app and deal with customer service. It all sounds very cute, but the odds of the show ending up bothering many, are high.
That Facebook promises that the user will have all control is not a great relief either. Many have been promises in the past that have not been fulfilled. After stating that they would never share WhatsApp data with Facebook, they have ended up doing so without leaving users the option to refuse.
The company’s latest financial results have been huge, with huge profits led by mobile advertising. Facebook, however, fears its growth will begin to decline and it is no wonder that it is looking for new ways to earn revenue with one of its most popular mobile apps. Messenger has over one billion active users per month, a huge market that is now completely open to advertisers.