How Facebook's Big Bet On Chatbots Might Remake The UX Of The Web

Enter The 2016 Innovation By Design Awards now through May 5! At F8, Facebook's massive annual developer conference, the big news is bots—specifically bots on Messenger, Facebook's messaging app. Messenger now boasts 900 million users per month, which presents a tantalizing user base for companies eager to get their wares in front of customers. That's where the bots come in. Facebook is turning Messenger into an open platform, and any company can now build a chatbot that users can talk with. If you're an airline, you can build a chatbot to book tickets; if you're OpenTable you can build a chatbot to take reservations. "To me it's about bringing back all the best parts of the interaction between people and businesses," David Marcus, vice president of messaging products at Facebook, says in an interview. "What we're trying to build with bots are rich conversational experiences. That's what we believe will be the future of interactions and services." The chatbots are designed to guide you through a lightweight user flow that doesn't leave you guessing about what to do next. All Roads Lead to Messenger Chatbots seem like a new fad in software design: Microsoft just announced its own suite of bot-building tools; Kik, the messaging platform massively popular among teens, announced one as well. But there are deep reasons why chatbots make sense. The app model has stalled out: People don't use a ton of apps, and they don't download many either. The reason is simple:... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2016-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Uneasy: ALA Preview 2011

Managing budget pressure is a way of life for library administrators. But as librarians gather in New Orleans for the 2011 ALA Annual Conference, a snapshot of public library budgets across the nation shows the lingering "Great Recession" is still devastating library services—even as demand for... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #librarians gather #great recession


PW Has A New Facebook Page

PW has a new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pubweekly. We hope you'll come check us out over there, "like" us, and join the publishing business conversation in the interactive space that is Facebook. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Connecting the Dots on Facebook’s Smear Campaign

Perhaps you’ve probably heard: Facebook and Google are at war, and Facebook’s not afraid to play dirty. Thursday’s revelation that the social networking site hired PR firm Burston-Marsteller to plant a negative story about Google’s privacy settings raises a number of questions. Like, “Who at... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #googles head #silicon valley #focus attention


The Big Children's Books of BEA

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle and James Dashner's the Maze Runner trilogy are both drawing to a conclusion, while noteworthy collaborations from Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman, and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, set sail. Also look for fresh ventures from William Joyce, Maggie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #maggie stiefvater #lane smith #jack gantos #middle-grade debut


News.me, the iPad News Aggregator Blessed By Big Publishers, Gets Ready To Launch [MediaMemo]

The 99-cents a week-service looks like the kind of thing that could drive the New York Times and the Associated Press batty. Instead, they've signed on for a piece of the action. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big publishers #ve signed


Big Green Bookshop reaches 96% of its financial target

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 08:28 The Big Green Bookshop is celebrating after achieving 96% of its path to financial safety. The indie retailer based in Wood Green, north London, sent out a mass appeal to its customers a month ago asking them to buy one extra... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wood green #north london #mass appeal #month ago #extra book


Hodder and S&S' "Big Fat" scoop

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 10:34 Hodder & Stoughton and Simon & Schuster are both capitalising on a guilty pleasure, acquiring Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and Will and Kate's Big Fat Gypsy Wedding respectively. H&S senior editor Fenella Bates... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taschen's First 3D Books Are Big

Always adventurous publisher Taschen is launching its first line of 3D books, and, as you’d expect from a house known for its outsize books--and subjects--the first Taschen books getting the 3D treatment are Taschen’s Big Body Parts series: The Big Penis Book and The Big Book of Breasts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Paperbacks, Big Names on Top: Facts & Figures 2011

It's the Stieg Larsson show in 2010 paperback bestsellers. The first two books of his enormously successful trilogy racked up sales of more than 10,942,000 in their mass market and paperback editions. That's more than the combined sales of two other stellar sellers—James Patterson and Nora... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mass market #combined sales #big names #paperback editions #nora roberts


Big French publishing houses to return to Paris Book Fair

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:03 The new-look Paris Book Fair will open on Friday [18th March] for four days as five of the leading French publishers ponder the raids by the European Commission competition officials a fortnight ago. Hachette Livre, Bayard... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette livre #scaled back #opening hours


Adobe Introduces Proposal For Magazine-Like Web Layouts

Adobe introduced a proposal this week that would allow publishers to incorporate layouts similar to those used in magazines for websites. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big Green Bookshop half-way to fundraising target

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 15:05 The Big Green Bookshop has raised nearly half of its fundraising target to secure its future at the beginning of its appeal week. Owners of the London independent bookshop, Simon Key and Tim West, appealed to 1,000 loyalty... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fundraising target #simon key #tim west #extra book


UK's big four could be worst hit in REDgroup collapse

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:45 The UK's big four publishing groups—Penguin, Hachette, Random House and HarperCollins—could be the worst hit in terms of exposure to the ANZ market according to Nielsen BookScan data, following REDgroup's collapse in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #redgroup collapse #random house


Big Green Bookshop appeals for 1,000 customers

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:38 The Big Green Bookshop is appealing to 1,000 of its loyal customers to help secure its future by buying one book each. Owners Simon Key and Tim West of the indie in Wood Green, North London, have also set up an online donation... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #loyal customers #tim west #wood green #north london


Media Dealmakers Summit: "The Web Is Dead"

New York--There was a question during the morning session today at the Media Dealmakers Summit that crystallized what a lot of people are thinking about the future. "Are tablets and e-readers the future of media?" For George F. Colony, CEO of Forrester Research, the answer was simple: "Yes.... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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R&J titles receive a big boost

Written By: Caroline Horn and Philip Stone Richard and Judy’s children’s book club initiative, which launched a week ago, saw average sales across the 18 selected titles grow by some 226%. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big comics line up for this autumn

Written By: Charlotte Williams Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan and John Bishop are among the latest big-name celebrities to have been snapped up for autobiographies, as comedians look set to dominate the hardback celebrity memoir market again this autumn. “Gavin and Stacey” star Rob Brydon’s memoir is... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #steve coogan #john bishop #michael joseph


No Dead Ends: Creating the Modern Web Site

While magazine Web sites are starting to take a back seat to other channels that reach readers on a daily basis (such as Facebook and Twitter) they remain the centerpiece for many publishers' digital strategies. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #back seat #reach readers #daily basis #digital strategies


Web Site "Fans" Worth 50x as Much as "Fly-Bys"

If the old adage that 10 percent of your staff does 90 percent of the work rings true, the same could be said for your Web site traffic. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #web site