Chatbots are definitely quite hot these days and it looks like Facebook wants to add them to the Messenger application.
The implementation of the Chatbots is yet not very common, as most businesses don’t have the needed resources or technical skills to build them themselves. To save on both these factors, Facebook is sharing the API tools to build the chatbots and Live web plug-ins for business clients to the developers.
This has been verified via multiple sources, and several leaks of the deck that the company shared with developers further cement the existence of such a move.
According to the developers who are part of the project, there is no formal name that has been specified for the partner program. What we do know is that the company has been working with B2B developers of two types.
This is all part of the plan that Facebook had teased about at the F8 conference, last year, which involved Messenger’s big expansion into connecting potential customers with businesses via chat.
Chatbots will help businesses in building an automated response system, making it easier for them to field customers’ questions.
Structured Messages is another development that has been touted about a lot recently. TechCrunch has reviewed a presentation sent by Facebook to some Messenger chatbot developers. It details how beyond just text chatbots will be able to respond with what it calls “Structured Messages.” This will include a title, images, a description and a URL, along with a call for action for the receivers.
At present, Facebook is not charging developers, however, it can still make money from chatbots and live chat customer support.
Furthermore, we believe that this is definitely a smart initiative, as by managing an ecosystem of developers to help businesses the same way it did with ads and Page publishing, the company has ensured that all the aspects of the development will be covered properly.
