Facebook introduced Messenger Platform 2.0 in April, a suite of tools to enhance and extend bot capabilities. Now its new Discover section will promote branded bots and increase the opportunity for people to find experiences developers have built for people and businesses to interact with on Messenger.
Its engineers and developers have been working to make it more intuitive and relevant. Now Discover will let people browse and find bots and businesses in Messenger, starting with users in the US.
When you tap on the Discover icon on the lower right hand corner of the Messenger Home screen, you can browse by category, recently visited businesses and featured experiences.
Discover makes it even easier to get things done, from catching up on the news, booking a vacation, or getting sport highlights, right in Messenger. In addition to this full roll-out to U.S. consumers, it’s also showcasing the many ways to interact with businesses, get your questions answered and find the information you want.
Here’s what you’ll find in Discover:
Recently Used: Shows you the bots and businesses you recently interacted with.
Featured: A representation of the full range of experiences available in Messenger. Helps people find bots and businesses to explore.
Categories: Bots and businesses organized by topic. Refreshed frequently so you can find new experiences.
“In addition to advertising, Messenger Codes, me.me links and plugins, Discover gives bots and businesses a dedicated new surface to drive even more growth by giving you another way to get your experience in front of the Messenger community.”
As Business Insider noted at launch, “Facebook’s new vision for chat bots is no longer focused on direct, human-to-bot conversations.”
“Instead, Facebook wants bots to lurk in the background of the conversations real people are having on Messenger, piping up only when the bot can be of assistance (such as playing a song or booking a restaurant reservation).”
Stan Chudnovsky, Messenger’s head of product said bots are optimal for people and brands to communicate as they combine “the white pages and yellow pages. Think of it as a big AI layer that we are starting to plug in. All the data we have has been training it.”
The AI-powered assistant inside Messenger just got smarter and more socially adept, reminding users to save articles, videos or FB posts to check out later or share in message threads using the “Saved” extension. It also will be adding a “Can you call me?” pop-up that with a quick tap will make the call inside the app.
“It’s interesting that Messenger’s M is really being taught to help you avoid social faux pas, as well, things that really may save you in some situations,” notes TechCrunch. “One incoming set of suggestions is related to birthdays, ensuring that if you’ve been chatting with someone, you’re reminded to wish them a happy birthday.”
M is becoming increasingly “personalized,” said Kemal El Moujahid, a Messenger product manager at Facebook. In addition to enhancing communications and personaliztion, bots are the Hail Mary of monetization and, “Facebook could one day charge businesses for payments made through bots or just ramp up advertising in Messenger,” noted BI.
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