New Messenger Platform Features: Link ads to Messenger, Enhanced Mobile Websites, Payments and More

Today, we're happy to share some new features that we've been working on to create experiences that deliver value for people, businesses and developers.

Messenger as a Destination for News Feed Ads

To further enable businesses to target discovery of experiences on the Messenger Platform, we are starting to roll out ads in News Feed that drive people to chat with your bot on Messenger. Advertisers will now be able to select Messenger as a destination under the website clicks objective and use any call-to-action in their ad, including “Send Message”, to link to Messenger. All clicks on these News Feed ads will directly open up a Messenger thread with a copy of the ad or configurable structured message. Similar to existing Facebook ads, developers and businesses will have the option to select their target audiences and delivery times. More information can be found here. This new capability is rolling out over the next month.

Enhanced Mobile Websites in Messenger [BETA]

The enhanced mobile website in Messenger will allow people to seamlessly enjoy and interact with a business' mobile website within Messenger. Businesses and developers can customize the height of their website displayed within Messenger and use partial heights to create richer interactions in threads without losing the context of the conversation. We will also be simplifying payment and checkout experience for websites in Messenger. People can use their payment information stored on Messenger/Facebook to check out faster on merchant websites. At the moment, this payments option is available as a closed beta and in the US only. Businesses can apply for the payments option beta through the Messenger developer webpage.

Messages with Payments [BETA, UNITED STATES ONLY]

Today, we're also rolling out a new way for businesses to sell products and services in Messenger. Payments can now be integrated into messages, making it easy for customers to shop and purchase without leaving the app. Messages with payments utilize industry-leading controls and financial information is protected with bank-level encryption. As of today, payments will be available for select developers in beta; businesses can apply through the Messenger developer webpage. We expect to roll out this capability more broadly by the end of the year.

Welcome Screen for Bots and Pages

When people start a new thread with your bot in the Messenger app, they will now be greeted with a welcome screen to provide more information about the bot, including the category of the associated Page, response time and capabilities provided on Messenger. This will help provide details about the bot experience. People can subsequently access Page information within thread details. This feature will be available to all businesses on Messenger later this week. Businesses can customize their introductory text via Page settings.

Sharing Bots and Content with Friends

We're enabling seamless sharing of bots and messages from bots to friends on Messenger. People can share any message with friends using the standard Messenger share button next to the message. People can also share bots with their friends using a share option in thread details of the bot thread. All shared messages will include the bot icon, name and CTA that allows people to start a thread with the associated bot. This feature will help you reach the 1B+ people on Messenger today.

...And more

• Update to quick replies: In July, we launched quick replies to offer a more guided experience for people as they interact with a business or developers' bot. We recognize the variety of conversations that are taking place on Messenger and are updating quick replies to now include sharing of location and icons.
• App-level analytics: App level analytics, including error and block rates, can now be downloaded via CSV in app settings
• Attachment re-use for fast multimedia sends: We now allow re-use of the same attachment on subsequent media sends, enabling broadcasting and providing a large improvement in multimedia send times.

Full changelog for this update and documentation for the Messenger Platform.