Facebook Messenger is getting ads

Facebook Messenger connects millions of people around the world everyday with the ability to send text, pictures, funny GIFs and videos and you can even make calls.

It's a great service and one that is proving increasingly popular, so quite naturally it's going to be getting included ads very soon. Don't despair just yet though, and you'll only be getting paid for intrusions into your online social life in very specific ways.

According to a document obtained by Techcrunch, the ads will only be able to come from businesses which you have initiated a Messenger conversation with. They won't be able to make contact by spamming their userbase with messages, you'll have to opt in by chatting to them first. It's a good way of ensuring that you have some interest in the company, after all how many of us actually communicate with businesses regularly, and should ensure that you're not going to be flooded with spam.

The doc also suggests that brands spend the next while encouraging users to engage with them via Messenger to get more folks to opt in, so expect a lot of that to be happening in the next while - perhaps in the form of new competition entry mechanics and other methods. Facebook hasn't confirmed the arrival of Messenger ads but the leaked document is said to be genuine and this feature could start as soon as April 2016.