Facebook is a home for a lot of things, and the same goes for Messenger. With more than 100,000 chatbots available, most users have no idea of their existence. Facebook is changing that.
About one year after Facebook opened chatbots to Messenger, most of them are difficult to find and not intuitive to use. After the company succeeded in building up the base foundation for chatbots, Facebook is now aiming to put them into a good use.
“Last year was all foundational stuff. We built all the foundations and the elements. This year is all about scale,” said Facebook VP of Messenger David Marcus.
Facebook also positions Messenger as the platform for communication, a hub where people and businesses come together. To aim forward, it's making things discoverable.
"We're kind of already the White Pages of messaging apps. With now 20 million businesses actively responding to messages and 100,000 bots out there, we have a shot at becoming the Yellow Pages of messaging apps as well," said Marcus.
To do this, Facebook's Messenger adds a section where its users can discover bots and non-bot business profiles. It's also adding a tool for brands so they can use TV ads or in-store signage for customized conversation starters.
After announcing M Suggestion, these attempts should also help users in using and interacting with chatbots. And all that is to make conversations between humans and bots easier.
Discover Section For Chatbots
Messenger's bot store is one of the most awaited thing, and Facebook is delivering that. One of the best thing about it is that, all bots are free and none of them are for sale. Using the Discover tab, users can see showcased bots for both businesses and non-businesses.
Any Facebook Page that has enabled messaging and has earned Facebook's responsiveness badge can apply to appear in the Discover tab.
The section is also highlighting popular chatbots and those that are operated by nearby businesses. Users can also browse categorical listings, like entertainment, finance, food and drink, health and fitness, news, as well as productivity.
Besides the Discover tab, Messenger is also adding a new tab for people to find and play Instant Games.
Chat Extensions To Support Previous Conversations
Messenger is also having a Chat Extensions that enable bots to temporarily join existing conversations. With it, users can find and share certain information without having to leave Messenger.
"Now you can open the Chat Extension, pick a restaurant that has availability right now and then you can book or share back. And if you share back as a suggestion, then [a friend] can now tap on that thing and complete the reservation or see more details," explained Marcus.
When people tap the '+' button on the keyboard, they will see a horizontal carousel of chatbots they have interacted with, and those that have have enabled Chat Extensions. After choosing a bot, Messenger will show a specific mobile web page where the bot can do its thing.
For example, Spotify's extensions for people to share songs. Clicking on Spotify's bot will display a page for users to search for songs by keyword and will play the chosen song within Messenger after being shared and clicked.
For businesses, this can be an advantage, especially because Messenger is passing user ID to bots, So whether or not users have previously started a conversation with a chatbot, the bot creator can add their ID to a list to target them with ads across Facebook using Custom Audiences ad-targeting option.
To make this happen, Facebook has allowed businesses to match Messenger-provided IDs with ones provided when someone logs into a business’s mobile app or website using Facebook.