Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Facebook Messenger is getting ads, according to a leaked document

Kris Wouk
By

ads coming to facebook messenger holiday update 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Early this year, Facebook announced that it had reached over 800 million active users for its Facebook Messenger platform. Until now, Facebook hasn’t attempted to monetize this user base, but it seems that could change in the near future.

A leaked document that Facebook had sent to advertising partners reveals that the company is planning on introducing a unique form of ads to Facebook Messenger, according to TechCrunch, which obtained a copy of the document. Instead of the standard banner-style ad seen in many apps, the ads here would be sent directly to customers who have previously chatted with the business being advertised.

Recommended Videos

As part of its preparations for the rollout, Facebook has introduced a shortlink that, when clicked, instantly opens a chat thread with a business. The company has confirmed the existence of this link, but as for the rest of the document, nothing has been made public at this time.

Related

“We don’t comment on rumor or speculation,” a Facebook representative told TechCrunch. “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 people do not experience unwanted messages of any type.”

The document recommends that in order to have a healthy base of users to send ads to, businesses do what they can to get customers chatting with them. If you start seeing links on a company’s website to chat with them on Facebook Messenger, this could likely be the reason.

According to the document, these new ads are coming to Facebook Messenger in the second quarter of this year. Since these ads are only sent to users who have already sent messages to a company, it seems that Facebook wants to make sure users aren’t annoyed by them. As for whether or not this will actually be the case, we’ll have to wait and see.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kris Wouk
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Facebook vows to restrict news access in Canada
facebook hacked

Meta says it will remove access to news content on Facebook and Instagram for users in Canada after the nation’s lawmakers passed legislation designed to force internet giants that also include Google to pay news publishers for hosting their content.

The Online News Act was approved by the Senate upper chamber on Thursday and is set to be formally adopted soon. The law is designed to offer support for news organizations that have been struggling with vastly reduced ad revenue in the internet age.

Read more
How to get your share of Facebook’s $750M settlement
A silhouetted person holds a smartphone displaying the Facebook logo. They are standing in front of a sign showing the Meta logo.

Meta (formerly Facebook) might owe people who used the social media site between 2007 and 2022 some money due to privacy infringement, according to Mashable.

The social media giant has reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit where it admits no fault in the claims against the company, but has agreed to pay out $725 million in damages. The money is available to all who submit a claim by the appropriate deadline of August 25, 2023. If you are (or were) a Facebook user, here's how to know if you're eligible and get your share of the settlement.
How to know if you're eligible
There are various stipulations you should take into consideration, including that the $725 million award will be truncated after Meta pays its legal and administrative fees. There are also eligibility, filing, and opt-out dates you want to note.

Read more
If you can’t stand ads on Instagram, you’re going to hate this update
Samsung Galaxy S23 showing Instagram

Instagram has been ruffling the feathers of many users as of late with how many ads and suggested posts it shows from unfollowed accounts. Despite the frequent criticism of the app's near-constant ads, Meta announced in a recent blog post that Instagram will now feature an additional two new types of ads to clutter the feeds of all users.

One place where Instagram remained relatively ad-free was in the search results, as the app devoted that space entirely to directing people to the photos, reels, or other users that you're looking for. Now, users can expect to see ads popping up in the search results — making the results a little more padded and a little less helpful.

Read more