Tim Peterson says, “Facebook is trying to make Messenger bots more active, but in a reactive way.

On Monday, Facebook announced that it’s restricting how long Messenger bots have to respond to someone before they’re muzzled but is relaxing its rule forbidding promotional messages. Some Messenger bots will be able to sidestep the time limit with the introduction of subscription-based messaging.

A new 24-hour window is the pillar of these changes. Now, a Messenger bot can, with certain exceptions, only message someone within 24 hours of that person interacting with the bot. This appears to be Facebook’s way of pressuring companies to make their bots more responsive. In what appears to be a carrot to the 24-hour window’s stick, Messenger bots can now send promotional messages to people, like “Hey, check out this sale” or “Learn more about our newest product,” but only within the 24-hour window.

But the 24-hour window isn’t fully sealed. A bot will be able to send one follow-up message after the 24-hour window closes — which resets each time a person interacts with a given Messenger bot — and it will still be able to send what Facebook refers to as “template” messages, like sales receipts and flight notifications, after the 24-hour window closes, and even if the follow-up message is sent”.

Facebook restricts Messenger bots to 24-hour window, adds subscriptions

Marketing Land

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