“Facebook has a new plan to grow its user base—and mobile revenue—by expanding the reach of its mobile messenger app. Starting Tuesday, anyone with a mobile phone can sign up for Facebook Messenger, using just a name and phone number.
With Facebook’s growth in developed markets slowing as it nears market saturation, this streamlined sign-up process aims to draw users in countries where email or computer access is harder to come by.
“People will message more on Facebook as a result of this feature,” said Facebook’s director of product Peter Deng. “Over time we are building a large ecosystem, and there are ways for us to bring value to a lot of different parties in this ecosystem.”
Facebook clearly hopes to use messenger to draw more people to sign up for the social network, where new user activity translates into higher profits. (Read More:Facebook Revenue Jumps 32% Amid Gains in Mobile.)
The service is first launching in five key emerging markets on Tuesday: India, Venezuela, South Africa, Indonesia, and Australia. The company then plans to quickly roll it out to the rest of the world.
Facebook doesn’t currently make money from its messenger app, which includes free texting, group chat, and photo-sharing. Facebook has always offered it ad-free as an extra service to keep people connected with their Facebook friends, and within the social network’s eco-system...”
