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Facebook tests a live video shopping feature
Facebook is testing out a new feature that lets merchants on Facebook show off their wares in live videos. Reports of the test first surfaced online but the company has since confirmed the feature to TechCrunch. Through the feature, merchants can notify their Page followers about their broadcasts, demonstrate or describe their products in live videos and take payments or reservations through Messenger.
Facebook's Marketplace adds AI help for buyers and sellers
Facebook has rolled out new AI features for the Marketplace to celebrate its Craigslist-rival's second birthday. If you upload a photo of an item you want to sell, you'll notice that its interface will now automatically choose a category for you and even give you price range suggestions. That's because the AI can now recognize if what you're selling belongs under "furniture" or any other category based on the photo you took. Also, it can now compare your item against other similar listings to give you an idea of how much other people are asking for theirs.
Buick Marketplace adds in-dash fuel payments for Exxon
General Motors is giving customers in the US the ability to pay for gas at Exxon and Mobil stations from within their infotainment systems, and it's starting with Buick vehicles. Today, the automaker is rolling out a Marketplace update for Buicks that have access to it, which will add Exxon Mobil as one of its partner brands. It works like the in-dash fuel payment system GM-owned Chevy launched for Shell stations back in April: fire up the in-vehicle commerce platform, tap the Exxon Mobil icon and choose the Pay for Fuel option. You'll also need to type in the pump number to unlock it, but it doesn't get more complicated than that.
Roku could launch a store for streaming subscriptions
Roku is planning its own Amazon Channels-style à la carte marketplace for video subscription services, sources told Variety. Anyone using the company's devices could sign up for and watch them without needing to download apps for each. The marketplace may reach consumers in the coming months. Variety further explained that at some point, the service will collect some paid subscription services within a dedicated channel to make all their content accessible without needing to fire up different apps.
Facebook is selling ad spots in its Marketplace listings
Facebook is going to put ads in its Marketplace section for online classifieds. That's right, in addition to seeing posts for things like used couches and bed frames, you'll likely see advertisements for Bed, Bath & Beyond and Pier 1. In addition to that, now you'll be able to pay to "Boost" a listing, much like you would a News Feed post or event listing. As TechCrunch reports, these user-paid Boosts don't offer any sort of granularity to who they're targeting.
Facebook Marketplace adds section for home service professionals
A lot of home service pros already advertise their services on Facebook's Marketplace, but now the social network wants to make their presence on its Craigslist rival official. Facebook will roll out a dedicated Services section within Marketplace in the US starting today, and you can visit it whenever you're looking for home service pros like plumbers, cleaners and renovators. The social network is populating the category with providers from Handy, HomeAdvisor and Porch, which presumably means they're all background-checked and vetted by those companies.
Facebook Messenger will begin translating English to Spanish soon
Messenger's built-in AI is getting a new trick. The M digital assistant will suggest translating a message to your native language if you get a message via Marketplace in a different tongue. It'll start with English to Spanish and roll out to users in the US over the next few weeks. Other languages and availability will come online later. This could make offloading that spare couch of yours a lot easier in the future -- especially if you're trying to communicate with a buyer while you're on the go.
Hyperloop One and Here made an app for imaginary Hyperloops
Virgin Hyperloop One has teamed up with mapping company Here to build an app that lets you pretend that Hyperloops are real. The app is designed to be your transportation portal in a future where vacuum tubes are connecting all of our major cities as one. Imagine a version of Citymapper that let you choose between cars, planes, trains or Hyperloops as you jump between, for instance, Las Vegas and LA.
GM thinks you'll buy stuff through your car's dashboard
As more cars roll off production lines with WiFi and LTE capabilities as standard, brands are falling over themselves to find ways to monetize this connectivity. Jaguar and Shell have partnered for in-car fuel payments, while BMW and Ford are bringing Alexa to your dashboard. Now, General Motors (GM) has unveiled a new on-board marketplace where drivers can buy coffee and gas, and make restaurant and hotel reservations, without getting out of their car.
Facebook Marketplace can help you find a new place to rent
Facebook is rapidly expanding its offerings in its Marketplace section, pulling oft-searched items like used cars into its Craigslist competitor. Now the company is bringing housing rentals from Apartment List and Zumper into the fold, letting US users browse and search "hundreds of thousands" or rental units in Marketplace.
Indiegogo's Marketplace sells successfully-funded projects
Indiegogo has become a viable alternative to Kickstarter for crowd-funding projects in the last few years. It's not just small projects, either — big names like IBM, Honeywell and Atari have used the site to pull in funding. Now the crowd-sourcing company is looking to help successfully-funded initiatives get attention after they launch, as well. The company has launched a new Marketplace page where you can find a ton of gadgets, devices and other products that you can purchase directly from the site.
Facebook opens up its Craigslist-like section to retailers
Facebook is trying to figure out what people want from Marketplace, so it's going to add a bunch of new products from real vendors in order to suss that out. "We'll kind of look and see what's popular, what people want to engage with," Deb Liu, Facebook's head of Marketplace, told Recode, "So if people are searching or looking for something, we want to make that available to them."
Facebook Marketplace makes its way to 17 European countries
If you're looking for stuff to buy online, check out Facebook Marketplace -- it might now be available in your country. The social network has expanded the presence of its eBay and Craigslist rival to cover 17 more countries in Europe, namely Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. It's been accessible in the UK for quite some time.
Helix wants to build a marketplace for your DNA
There are secrets buried deep within our genetic code, and more than a few companies that want to help you learn them. Helix believes that the gaggle of startups vying for your DNA have a problem: they all need an individual sample to use. That's why the company is positioning itself as a marketplace where you take a single DNA swab, and then it shares the information with whoever you choose.
Facebook's revamped Marketplace goes after Craigslist again
Last year Facebook relaunched its online classifieds, Marketplace, as a way to take on Craigslist. Now the social network is giving the system a makeover, TechCrunch noticed. There are dedicated sections for categories of for-sale items including tools, baby-and-kids items and even mobile phones. Oh, and there's one each for garage sales and housing -- two of Craiglist's most popular categories.
'Minecraft' adds a shop for mobile add-ons
For many, the biggest limitation of Minecraft's Pocket and Windows 10 Editions has been the lack of community material. What good is playing on your phone if you can't try out that sweet new texture pack you saw on your PC? You're about to get that option. Microsoft and Mojang are launching a Marketplace that lets both Pocket and Windows 10 gamers download content from community creators, including skins, textures and whole worlds. You don't buy any paid content directly -- instead, you buy "Minecraft Coins" that let you snap up the add-ons you want. It's ostensibly to help producers set "flexible prices," although it also helps mask the value of what you're buying. You might not want to let kids have unfettered access, in other words.
Facebook didn't mean to let you sell guns and hedgehogs
Facebook's newly launched Marketplace is meant to help you sell all kinds of goods, but it turns out the service has been a little too permissive in its early days. The company has apologized after a "technical issue" with its screening system let Marketplace users sell items that either violate its policies or are downright illegal, including babies, drugs, guns and... baby hedgehogs. Really. It's promising to "fix the problem" and will make sure that it's correctly removing forbidden listings before expanding access.
Facebook opens Marketplace to take on eBay and Craigslist
If you visit Facebook today, the chances are that you'll come across someone trying to sell something. It could be a friend looking to make some money from an old smartphone or a thousand-strong parenting group looking to trade items for their little ones. Facebook has slowly introduced features to make it easier for people to list their items, but today the company has launched Marketplace, a new way for users to "discover, buy and sell items" with other people in their area.
Rakuten is closing its UK marketplace
Before Amazon became the online behemoth it is today, it used to go toe-to-toe with another big web retailer: Play.com. The site initially specialised in DVDs, video games and music -- selling products from Jersey to escape VAT charges and lower its prices -- before expanding into electronics and personal computers. In 2009, at the height of its popularity, UK consumers even rated it their favourite retailer. Unfortunately for the company, that success didn't last and Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten swept in to buy the company for £25 million in 2011. It spun it off into a marketplace for independent sellers in 2013 and it's operated that way ever since. Well, it will until August.
Facebook tests multiple News Feeds based on your interests
If you've been yearning for a way to cut through the clutter that is your Facebook News Feed, you may soon be in luck. The social network is testing multiple News Feeds inside its mobile app, as the feature is live for select users. In addition to the main feed, tabs for specific topics like Style, Travel and Headlines line the top of the interface. When you select one, the feed is distilled down to relevant posts from your friends and Pages you follow. Facebook says the feature is in the testing phase, so it could be a bit before it's open to all users.
