Facebook bringing ads to Messenger's home screen

Messenger is a very popular messaging app, as it is used by over 1 billion people across the globe every month. That’s why Facebook wants to monetize it as much as possible, and that’s why it is now bringing ads to the app. The company recently announced that it is launching a small test in Australia and Thailand that will bring ads to the Messenger home screen. Luckily, these won’t show up in a conversation.

Users in Australia and Thailand will start seeing ads in the coming weeks, and if all goes well, Facebook will expand them globally sooner or later. But the company did state it hopes to learn a lot during the testing period, and that it will first make sure it can deliver the very best experience to advertisers and users before considering expanding to other markets.

According to Facebook’s blog post, the company believes that by bringing ads to Messenger, users will be able to “enhance the discovery of new experiences” and interact with companies they are interested in if they choose so. Advertisers, on the other hand, won’t be able to message users directly unless the user is the one who starts the interaction by sending a question or comment to a certain company.

I think it’s safe to say that despite what Facebook thinks, no one really wants to see ads in Messenger. But nevertheless, they are coming. We’re at least glad to hear that they will stay on the home screen and won’t appear within a conversation you’re having with someone, as that would really be intrusive.