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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Is Big Tech Merging With Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It

The all-seeing Amazon, Google, and Facebook have every incentive to help the national security state undermine privacy, free speech, and democracy. We’ve read this book before. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are wrestling with Facebook’s desire to own Facebook-funded Watch shows

Facebook wants to own more of the shows it subsidizes for Facebook Watch, but publishers are not always willing to give those rights away. The post Publishers are wrestling with Facebook’s desire to own Facebook-funded Watch shows appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair 2018: Why the Problem with Facebook, Is Facebook

In the the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, PW talks to University of Virginia Media Studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of the forthcoming 'Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy' (Oxford University Press) about Facebook’s sprawling influence in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Watch publishers look for revenue sources beyond Facebook’s subsidies

Publishers are eyeing everything from sponsored and custom video series to licensing and even merchandising for their (self-funded) Facebook Watch shows. The post Facebook Watch publishers look for revenue sources beyond Facebook’s subsidies appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trump's campaign said it was better at Facebook. Facebook agrees

Donald Trump's presidential campaign has boasted often that it made better use of Facebook's advertising tools than Hillary Clinton's campaign did. An internal Facebook white paper, published days after the election, shows the company's data scientists agree."Both campaigns spent heavily on... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The long-suffering news business keeps getting big promises from Big Tech

With Google under pressure to clamp down on YouTube conspiracies and low-quality clickbait, the search giant is launching a major new effort aimed at strengthening its relationship with news publishers–and perhaps keeping them from going under. At an event in New York today, the company... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Year, New Zuck: What Facebook's CEO Really Wants to Say About the Year Ahead at Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg has issued his annual New Year challenge to himself, and it's a big one: Fixing Facebook.The hoodie-wearing CEO, who has previously taken on learning Mandarin, reading books and visiting new parts of the country, is setting a less concrete goal in focusing on fixing important... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Video series on Facebook are already driving higher engagement, which is a good sign for Facebook Watch

Publishers are shifting resources to multi-episode video shows and other serialized programming from standalone videos as a result. The post Video series on Facebook are already driving higher engagement, which is a good sign for Facebook Watch appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook always wins: Data shows publishers are buying far more Facebook traffic

Even with publishers grousing about Facebook's shortcomings as a source of revenue and organic traffic, publishers are putting a lot more resources into dark posts, according to Keywee data. The post Facebook always wins: Data shows publishers are buying far more Facebook traffic appeared first... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Facebook is only half in’: Creators doubt Facebook’s commitment to original programming

Facebook wants shows, and publishers are happy to comply -- but question whether this is just another short-term "product test" for the company. The post ‘Facebook is only half in’: Creators doubt Facebook’s commitment to original programming appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Video publishers seek to extend Facebook content beyond Facebook

Facebook video publisher Attn is producing a long-form version of its popular video series “America Versus,” which will live on its site and streaming platforms. Attn has also produced other content for HBO Now and Spotify. Similarly, CNN’s Great Big Story just premiered its first TV show on the... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian Publishing 2016: Big Books for a Big Country

Canadian publishing is dominated by some familiar names: Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Is Testing Mid-Roll Video Ads in Facebook Live

Facebook has started running tests of mid-roll video ads inside live video broadcasts from top publishing partners, the company confirmed Monday.These are Facebook's first ads that get served directly inside videos on the social network. "We're running a small test where a group of publishers... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: No Big Book Yet, But Plenty of Big Sales

One thing the absence of a big book has meant is that a handful of titles—drawing strong advances from editors in the U.S. and abroad—are being clumped into an ever-growing list of buzzed-about books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Facebook M Will Hook Us On Shopping At Facebook

A new personal assistant called Facebook M allows you to buy things by chatting with a Faceless assistant in Messenger.In March, Facebook quietly revealed a major play. Their Messenger platform, with 700 million users, would be updated to allow you to buy things right in the chat window. Looking... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook to Help Mobile Apps Auction Off Their Ads Using Facebook Data

For years Facebook has considered itself a mobile-first company, so it's perhaps not surprising that the company's first attempt to automate the sale of ads running outside of Facebook will be limited to mobile.Mobile app publishers can now sell their in-app display and video ad inventory... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Gives Publishers New Tools, Hopes They’ll Use Them to Give Facebook More Stuff

Facebook has been courting content companies for years because it wants content companies to bring more of their content to Facebook. Here’s a new example: A set of tools that will make it easier for publishers to share their stuff ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big Losses, Big Questions for Amazon

Amazon's release of its third quarter financial results Thursday afternoon gave analysts and investors lots to think about as the giant e-tailer posted a large quarterly loss, forecast the possibility of a loss for the fourth quarter and had slowing growth in its media segment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big Big History, Small Press

A wave of mainstream media attention shines a spotlight on David Christian, a leading proponent of "big history" and author published by academic press Berkshire Publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Big Names and Big Flavors for Fall Cookbooks

Perusing the cookbook offerings at BEA revealed upcoming titles from big names and newcomers alike, and news that "Lucky Peach" is looking at getting into cookbooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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