Facebook Debuts Dubbed Services, New Biz Directory

Facebook’s ambitions as a business directory appear to be more expansive than previously assumed.

Positioning itself directly against Yelp, Angie’s List, and similar services, the social giant has quietly launched a site that endeavors to connect consumers with “local businesses and organizations with the best Facebook reviews and ratings.”

Dubbed Services, the site is actually an extension of Facebook’s flagship property, featuring a slew or professional services from plumbers to automotive to child care.

Service suggestions are geotargeted to users’ locations, and feature customer reviews, a star-based rating system, and general business information.

The effort is part of a broader effort by Facebook to upend the business of customer relationship management.

Late last year, the company quietly relaunched its Places Directory, which is essentially a local search engine. Users can use the directory find a “place” by location or another place name.

More recently, Facebook expanded its Notification system to include recommendations for nearby places to eat, movies playing in your area and local events.

Facebook also added new ways for customers to send private messages to Page owners, along with new tools for Page administrators to manage and respond to messages. With a new “Send Message” call-to-action button, for example, users can initiate private conversations with business Pages from News Feed ads.

Facebook also recently announced plans to position Messenger at the center of business-to-consumer communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next story loading loading..