
Testing Ads in Facebook Messenger - Inconel
https://messengerblog.com/general-messenger/testing-ads-in-messenger/
======
joelrunyon
This is why it's annoying to me that so many people use Messenger.

You know what I can use text anyone, anytime without having to worry about
ads? My phone.

I feel like there's a downward trend of companies using free stuff to "hook"
people and then just feed them an inferior product over and over and over
again (more ads, etc). It's not just creating worse products, but it's
creating worse customers (who don't understand actual costs when they see
other products that are "free").

What happened to just "paying for x, get x." As a customer, I miss those
business models and as a business, I miss those customers.

~~~
mistermann
You may not have to worry about ads, but some people have to worry about costs
- $12 for me last month sending international texts to one person.

~~~
joelrunyon
iMessage - or even whatsapp / line or anything else - ironically enough.

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quaz3l
I really don't like ads just like most everyone else, but I can't help but
feel there is a missed opportunity here. Facebook just put classic mobile
letterbox ads in a side scrolling container.

In such a unique platform such as Messenger you could get a bit more creative.
One such example: Suggested pages to message. This would get companies leads
and keep people on the Messenger platform. This might not be the best use, but
with this product, Facebook can do better than just a re-skin of mobile
banners.

~~~
wodenokoto
I think these ads are supposed to start a chat with the sponsoring company.

~~~
quaz3l
Ahh I see that now, it still does take up a lot of real estate, and looks like
a regular website ad link.

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ericdykstra
Time to start using other apps more. I already have other chat app contacts
for most everyone I use Facebook Messenger with, and there is no friction to
switch.

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Smaug123
If anyone's ever clicked on an ad on Facebook not-by-accident, I would love to
know.

Invariably Facebook's ads are either a) highly non-relevant [the vast majority
of ads], or b) I already know about what they're advertising. I even try to
help, to make the ads relevant: every so often, I go through Facebook's list
of my interests to weed out the many ridiculous inferences Facebook has made
about me. I bet that's more than 99% of the Facebook population does!

~~~
Kiro
I find interesting stuff through Facebook ads all the time. It's on a level
that I often miss that it's actually sponsored content and not from a page I
like.

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eva1984
Eww. Any replacement suggestion? Paid/subscription app is welcome, too.

~~~
beefield
What's wrong with email? (Honest question. Based on this discussion it is not
considered an option worth mentioning.)

~~~
aylmao
At least in my case:

\- I get too much spam, so I tend to check email less. \- It's not as "real
time" as I sometimes need it to be. Sill feels more like mail than like
conversation. \- I like to know when people read my messages (I know there's
apps that allow this, but it's not ubiquitous) \- I like to know when people
are typing (aka, are currently in the conversation) \- Different email
programs send/format emails differently. Some seem to keep all the replies
attached to the bottom of the latest message in a way my email program can't
figure out and collapse.

I'm a fan of email tbh, and I wish more resources were invested in making it
better, but I just don't think it lies in the same "space" as instant
messaging.

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jasonlfunk
I understand the complaint, but what is the alternative? As a social network -
you cannot charge to be on the site; otherwise you will never be more than
just a niche.

Yes, people hate ads. But, if you were Facebook, what would you do
differently?

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shubhamjain
It's no surprise that Facebook is valued so much. Although, HN would loath
this move but these ads don't feel intrusive at all. They are already making
~$2.5B in profit in a quarter and who knows, that could possibly be just
scratching the surface. Facebook is smart enough to gradually up the amount of
inventory without vexing its users.

Zuckerberg's genius was to realise that their primary objective is to create
an engagement platform and gradually move towards monetisation; grand vision,
or plain luck, it's working marvellously.

------
Semaphor
> similar to how we surface birthday notifications or where we let you know if
> a friend is currently active on Messenger

Guess it doesn't matter then. I'm rarely in the messenger homescreen, but when
I am, those are just as annoying as ads anyway, with no way to remove them
permanently (which they gleefully tell you when you hide them).

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trojanh
First Facebook Messenger and then WhatsApp. Ads are inevitable, it's just the
matter of "when". We will live in ads. Google ads might decrease and such ads
targeting personal apps are on the rise. This needs to stop.

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chambo622
Maybe this will be the tipping point that gets everyone to switch to Allo

~~~
corobo
Allo needs to do more marketing first. What is an Allo?

~~~
ahalam
Last week, someone on a Android podcast referred to it as "Alto"! No one
remembers / knows what it is.

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bfrog
This is why I've refused to install this crap on my phone, and have since
uninstalled Facebook itself.

I just use the web version and set it to desktop so it doesn't try and nerf
the site.

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kirkdouglas
Hopefully they won't show ads in Messenger Lite.

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ChankeyPathak
Facebook has started giving preference to sponsored posts instead of my
friends'. This is annoying.

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niftich
Facebook has a few moves here. By doing a limited test in both Thailand, a
high ad engagement, growing market [1][2], and Australia, a lower-engagement
but high-spend market [3], they can gauge how advertisers respond in two very
different markets, while keeping the more numerous [4] North American, Indian,
and Brazilian users out of the fray -- and most reputational fallout -- for
now.

There is still a small possibility that they'll renege on this plan. Google,
whose rivalry with Facebook in the area of messaging is longstanding [5], has
largely squandered their potential in this space with a confusing product
strategy, but have remained a dominant force in advertising thanks to Search,
Youtube, Maps, and Android. Google has recently shuffled up its messaging
lineup again by rebooting Google Voice, still having Hangouts, and pushing Duo
and Allo, but Facebook provides a unified experience by having all of this in
one app. Facebook is no doubt gambling on the fact that any user fallout about
ads in Messenger won't be severe enough to cause an exodus of users to a
competitor who poses a threat -- and right now, it's unclear if Google poses a
threat or just continues to flail ineptly.

Meanwhile, Snapchat doesn't pose a serious risk to _Messenger_ , because
Instagram has suitably cloned all of its features while also retaining the
core product around curated photos; WhatsApp is a serious player in Brazil and
India, is of course now run by Facebook in a brilliant example of market
positioning; Skype has hemorrhaged marketshare due to Microsoft's
(mis-)management; a few other smaller players target niche audiences (e.g.
pseudonymous harder-to-monetize users, gamers, privacy-conscious users).

This leaves their biggest threats European and Asian-operated platforms like
WeChat, LINE, Viber, and Telegram. WeChat dominates the Chinese market due to
various home turf advantages, while Telegram is popular in the Cyrillic world
and MENA, Viber in Europe and Israel, and LINE in Japan. So far, none of them
have challenged Facebook in its core markets.

[1] [http://www.tnsglobal.com/thailand-digital-ad-spend-
report](http://www.tnsglobal.com/thailand-digital-ad-spend-report) [2]
[https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Ad-Spending-
Domin...](https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Ad-Spending-Dominates-
Digital-Thailand/1014562) [3] [http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-
around-the-wo...](http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-around-the-
world/digital-marketing-in-australia/state-australian-digital-ad-spending-
matters/) [4]
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-
based-on-number-of-facebook-users/) [5]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483)

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executesorder66
I don't understand why this is getting so many upvotes. Do people enjoy being
flooded with ads wherever they go?

~~~
ajkjk
Because it's something that HN users want to see on the site. Upvoting has
nothing to do with endorsing what it says.

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type0
I'm sure messenger will be so much better with "smart" ads. Let's say you are
chatting with your friend and say: oh you know that delivery company with
black minibuses and all of the sudden you get ads for UPS so you don't even
have to google it. Off course FB and the Zuck will eventually take over the
World. If not that, then he will definitely take over the World Wide Web.

