Ping! Say hi to sponsored messages in Facebook Messenger

Chatbots are getting chattier and may say hello if you click on a News Feed ad. Facebook is letting brands try to get chummier with you by expanding the capabilities of chatbots in Messenger. David Marcus, Facebook's vice president of messaging products, said Tuesday the initial success that companies have seen in reaching customers via Messenger spurred the expansion. He spoke at Web Summit 2016 in Dublin. As early as this week, you may start to see ads in your News Feed that enable you to click straight into a Messenger conversation with a company.