【Busty Cops on Patrol (2009)】

Facebook is Busty Cops on Patrol (2009)making it easier than ever for brands to lure you into chatting with them.

The social network rolled out a new type of ad on Tuesday that lets advertisers with or without Messenger bots solicit messages through sponsored News Feed posts.

The posts look like any other ad on the site, but have a "send message" button in place of a link to an outside site.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: Facebook's branded bots have potential, but there's a long way to go

Another iteration of the format lets brands run ads within a particular open conversation on the Messenger platform in an attempt to reconnect with users with whom they've talked before.

Facebook tries to prevent the product from leading to spamming by limiting ads to users with which a brand has an existing chat and still letting users reserve the ability to block messages at any time.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

When Facebook first launched its branded bot availability on the Messenger platform this spring, one of the most pressing concerns from advertisers was how to make their automated programs easy for users to find.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Starting a conversation with a bot is as easy as sending an opening message through a brand's page or user handle. But even now, it can be difficult to immediately tell which businesses offer them.

Coming six months after the debut of branded bots, these ads seem to be Facebook's attempt to help address that discoverability issue and at the same time advance its inevitable march toward monetizing all those bots.

Until now, Facebook hasn't made any money from the customer service transactions that happen within them.

The rollout follows Facebook's addition of a suite of tools last month aimed at roping more of your social and real world consumer life into its platform, including tailored appointment cards within Messenger that let businesses better schedule things like salon visits or auto repairs.

Those changes, as with these new ads, seem to have also been made in service of one of Facebook's overarching goals: Drawing as much of the web at large as possible into the self-contained microcosm of its walled garden, where it can be more easily tracked and better monetized.

It's a quest that can be traced through many of the moves the company makes from Instant Articles, which hosts news stories directly on the platform, to its Canvas ads, which essentially allow advertisers to create a flashy, miniaturized version of their site within a single post.

In this case, Facebook wants to ensure that all the various functions of companies serving their customers' needs stay within its closely watched orbit.

Topics Facebook

• Shopping
• Science
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Social Good
• Tech
• Life
• Deals

• SpaceX will try to achieve 2 impressive feats on Monday
• Man hatches fake terror plot to avoid holidaying with girlfriend
• Man hatches fake terror plot to avoid holidaying with girlfriend
• Uber CEO Travis Kalanick claimed he was the 2nd best Wii Tennis player in the world
• SpaceX is so close to turning its rocket headquarters into an actual city
• Disney princesses reimagined as celebrities is pure magic
• You can probably (maybe?) trust this 'Avatar' sequel news, finally
• American Airlines in hot water after flight attendant almost gets in fight with passenger
• Best laptop deal: Get the 14
• 9 incredible ways we're using drones for social good

• Prices cut on more than 200 car models in China this year: expert · TechNode
• Huawei ramps up Mate 70 series production for November launch: report · TechNode
• Uber set to invest in self
• Tencent launches and open
• Xiaomi unveils flagship Xiaomi 15 series featuring Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset · TechNode
• ByteDance aims to launch video
• Chinese auto startup Hesai to supply 1.5 million lidar units to Ford partner · TechNode
• Cisco tightens Certification of Origin requirements, excludes China
• Chinese sports tech firm Keep cuts workforce by 10
• Xiaomi to add third EV model targeting mainstream markets · TechNode

• 11 Tech Products That Were Supposed to Fail... But Didn't
• Still want an NES Classic? Best Buy will have them this week
• 'The Fate of the Furious' is days away from a $1 billion box office
• How the hell should you use your tax refund?
• The Year in Tech: 2014 Top Stories
• Hundreds of mice found in an apartment after owners left them to breed
• Marathon runner proposes to girlfriend minutes from finish line and it's too sweet
• Mark Zuckerberg posts Oculus VR film profiling prison inmates changing their lives
• Sri Lanka vs. Australia 2025 livestream: Watch 1st ODI for free
• Hundreds of mice found in an apartment after owners left them to breed

• Trump's foreign aid freeze halts funding for digital diplomacy bureau
• Global warming is sharply raising the risk of 'unprecedented' events
• Police finally stop 12
• 10 things 2017 has made us do
• Best Presidents' Day deal: Save $250 on Peloton Bike
• 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' is Marvel at its most emotional
• Computers can't grasp Icelandic. Here's why that's a big problem
• A fleet of driverless cars will travel from London to Oxford in 2019
• Amazon CEO tries to sell kids on working on the moon
• Here's how Facebook and GIPHY became friends again