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Uber
is the first partner for the Transportation on Messenger
service, which will be available to select users in locations
where Uber operates in the United States, Facebook said in a
blog post. (http://bit.ly/1RSmDC8)
Uber on Messenger will start rolling out in the United States on
Wednesday, Uber said in a blog post. (http://ubr.to/1NqhKNh)
Lyft, a rival ride-hailing service provider, will be added to
Transportation on Messenger in January, sources close to Lyft
told Reuters.
Users can hail a ride in the latest version of Messenger by
choosing "transportation" from a menu or by tapping on a car
icon within a chat.
"Facebook is looking at this as a way to make Messenger more
attractive," Thilo Koslowski, vice president and automotive
practice leader of Gartner said.
He said the service provides a "huge market place" for Uber.
Facebook has been aggressively working to boost the appeal of
its messenger service, including making it mandatory last year
for users to install a separate app to send and receive
messages.
Since then, Facebook has beefed up the app's features by
allowing users to send and receive money through Messenger.
Still, the internet giant is playing catch up with Chinese
internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd's messaging app WeChat,
which has offered similar services much earlier.
Facebook's shares closed up 2.1 percent at $106.97 on Wednesday
amid a broad rally on Wall Street.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Sai Sachin R in Bengaluru, and
Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
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