They won’t be able to make contact by spamming their userbase with messages, you’ll have to opt in by chatting to them first. That’s according to a leaked document that suggests voluntarily speaking to businesses via Facebook’s chat app will allow them to send ads your way.
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TechCrunch cites a leaked document which states that brands will be able to message people who’ve previously messaged the company or otherwise started a chat thread with them.
Though these plans are aimed primarily at businesses, there are fears that, if successful, Facebook might experiment with rolling Messenger ads out to the wider public.
Facebook declined to comment on this report. The company told TechCrunch that “our aim with Messenger is to create a high quality, engaging experience for 800 million people around the world, and that includes ensuring people do not experience unwanted messages of any type”.
Facebook’s selling point for Messenger is that businesses can tap into it to chat with customers. That being said, we’ll have to wait and see how the situation plays out, to see if Facebook will place ads within Messenger, and if so, how it will do it. The ads could launch in the next couple months, though the format of the ads is unclear.
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The social network is now trying to entice users to message businesses directly by slipping the URL “fb.com/msg/” on the hush-hush, offering vendors an easy way to get you to message them personally, instead of going to their Facebook page, and write on the wall, for instance.
