JBLU JetBlue Airways Corporation

By Deepa Seetharaman 

Facebook Inc. said Tuesday that it is working with more than two dozen companies on a new initiative aimed at turning its Messenger app into a hub for shopping, news and entertainment.

At its annual F8 conference in San Francisco, Facebook showed developers how to build so-called chatbots in the app to field customer-service questions and help people order goods, without requiring a person at the other end of the conversation.

More than 25 companies are using chatbots in Messenger to start, including Walt Disney Co., eBay Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and News Corp's The Wall Street Journal. No money is changing hands in the partnerships.

This marks the second-consecutive year Facebook has highlighted Messenger at F8. People already favor the private, one-to-one communication style of messaging apps to social networks, and the trend is expected to accelerate.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg believes messaging apps will be central to the company in the next five years. "Messenger is going to be the next big platform for sharing privately," he said during his keynote remarks at F8.

Separately, Mr. Zuckerberg said Facebook is working on making it easier to stream high-quality live video to the social network. As he announced a new tool, a drone hovered overhead; the CEO said it would broadcast live from the conference.

Last year, Facebook began testing ways for businesses to reach users over Messenger, such as allowing customers to track orders from Zulily Inc. or guests to ask Hyatt Hotels Corp. for extra towels.

Just how many people will use Messenger to go shopping remains to be seen. In China, Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat is a central portal for commerce. Outside of Asia, though, people and companies aren't yet accustomed to using messaging apps in this way.

Many companies using messaging apps to talk to potential customers so far rely on workers to field the questions. Users expect prompt replies. Chatbots could help expand the number of businesses that can interact with Messenger's 900 million users.

Facebook said the new tools, which are available to all developers, will let companies quickly exchange not just texts but richer messages with images or clickable call-to-action buttons, such as "read this story" or "buy this item."

On stage at F8, David Marcus, vice president of Messenger, showed how a person could order shoes through the app, with a chatbot asking a series of questions, such as a preferred price range.

Messenger helps 1-800-Flowers reach younger people and those who only occasionally buy flowers, said Chris McCann, the company's president. In some cases, it was quicker for customers to order flowers through the Messenger app than over the 1-800-Flowers app, he said.

But in cases where someone is buying shoes, for example, a chatbot may actually be more painful than a standard e-commerce site, said Robin Chan, co-founder and CEO of Operator, a messaging app that uses artificial intelligence and users to help people shop.

Mr. Chan said a chatbot format forces companies that might have 300 different shoes available to select just a few to show users. "Putting the storefront into a straw" puts pressure on advertisers to choose the right items, he said. "There are going to be a lot of bad bots" over the next few months, Mr. Chan said.

A Facebook spokeswoman said the company will help partners customize chat experiences early on.

Facebook now owns two of the largest messaging apps: Messenger and WhatsApp, which the company bought in 2014 in a deal valued at $22 billion. Both apps are testing ways to let businesses communicate with consenting users, a move that paves the way for both to generate revenue.

Messenger is testing ways companies can reach out to people who already started conversations through "sponsored messages," Mr. Marcus said. He said the test is at a small scale, and that there will be a "big block button" for people to bar companies from contacting them again.

Businesses can also buy "click-to-message" ads that would appear in a person's Facebook news feed that would route them to a chatbot conversation, Mr. Marcus said.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 12, 2016 18:40 ET (22:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.