Facebook’s F8 developer conference is scheduled for this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Nothing has been revealed by the company about the two-day event yet, but there can be some guesses on what the social media giant could announce at the event.
ChatBots on Facebook Messenger
Facebook debuted its Messenger Platform at last year’s conference. The platform gives developers access to a product with more than 900 million users. We may possibly see the social media giant launch new APIs to bring ChatBots to Messenger and plugins for businesses to tap into the product.
Following reports that developers had access to a secret chat SDK, incorporating bot technology into Messenger is not surprising. Such tools can be used to make interactive experiences even better, giving users the ability to book trips, shop and more.
Another reason Facebook could come up with such tools is that rivals like Kik, Line, WeChat, Microsoft, Telegram, Slack and Skype are already throwing their support behind bots.
New features around 360-degree videos
Video remains the priority for the social networking site, and we could possibly see some new features around 360-degree videos, especially relating to Oculus Rift.
Just last week, the social media giant released new features and capabilities, so new announcements about Facebook Live seem doubtful. The live streaming service is relatively new as it was launched in August 2015, so finding new ways for developers to tap into it could be a bit premature.
Instant Articles
At F8, the social networking giant may open its Instant Articles program to allow developers and publishers to natively host their content. This offers publishers the ability to bring their content to a site with a mass audience and high rate of sharing. The social media platform claims that it already has a “few hundred” publishers on board.
Helping developers monetize their work
At F8, Facebook will also likely focus on helping developers monetize their work. Native advertising will be an important part of the mobile monetization landscape by 2020, according to a new study the company commissioned. Two-thirds of all mobile display ads will be native, and advertisers will spend approximately $53 billion on native mobile ads, the research suggested. Since the first quarter of 2015, native ad format adoption has grown 10 times, accounting for 83% of the Audience Network, said the social networking site.
At the event, Facebook could also discuss its Free Basics, especially about particular road bumps in countries like India. It could also reveal numbers or talk about its plans for virtual reality as Oculus’ first product has already begun shipping.
