Facebook's Head Of Messaging Talks Monetization

David Marcus, Facebook Inc FB's head of messaging, joined the company after serving as president of Paypal Holdings Inc PYPL. In an interview with Bloomberg's Emily Chang, he reiterated Facebook's policy of not disclosing revenue by specific products but he could confirm that the development of Messenger as a business is still in the "very very early" stages.

Part of Messenger's attractiveness as a monetization tool stems from its ability to connect a user with a company and engage them in a conversation instead of just viewing an add, he said. From an advertiser,s point of view, this could increase their return on investment and grow their business. As an example, T-Mobile US Inc TMUS saw a 7x conversion increase compared to traditional web experiences when the company interacted with a consumer through Messenger.

"They recreate the kind of experience you have in a store inside of Messenger with this conversational ability mixed with UI (user interface) elements," Marcus said.

Related Link: This Wings Restaurant Is Banking Its Future On Chatbots

Cramer On Facebook's Latest Acquisition

Facebook's acquisition of an anonymous polling app called tbh for a price that is believed to be less than $100 million is a brilliant move that "detours" young users from Snap Inc SNAP who is dominating among the younger demographic group, CNBC's Jim Cramer said during his daily "Mad Money" show Wednesday.

Facebook's acquisition of the relatively little-known app is not only a "terrific insurance bet" and a fantastic use of the company's cash hoard but a "potential nail in the growth story" of Snap.

"Do I want to buy the stock of Facebook because of this? Let me give you a really odd answer: Yes," Cramer said. "Yes, because if this rate of adoption continues, then the price tag would have been $1 billion a few months from now, not $100 million, and Snap would have gotten massive publicity about how it intended to blunt anything Facebook does to move younger if Snap had made the purchase first."

Finally, if anything Facebook's acquisition separates the company from Snap in one unique way. Facebook wisely spends its money on compelling acquisitions to drive user engagement and growth while Snap foolishly ends up spending even more money on flashy programming announcements.

And this is why Facebook continues to solidify the justification for being included in the elite "FANG" group of tech and internet giants, Cramer said.

Related Link: Could Facebook's Purchase Of Instagram Be The Best Acquisition Of All Time?
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Posted In: CNBCLong IdeasJim CramerTop StoriesTechMediaTrading IdeasDavid MarcusFacebook MonetizationMad MoneyMessengermonetizationsocial media
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