Facebook Inc. (NASADQ:FB) is facing its biggest test in the name of the COVID-19 pandemic. The epidemic has taken a toll on small businesses with a good chunk at risk of going under as some struggle to stay afloat. Given that the networking giant generates a good chunk of its ad revenues from small businesses, it is moving to protect its most important revenue stream.
Facebook Business Suite
The tech giant has since launched a new app that will let small business owners manage their business profiles and pages across Facebook Messenger and Instagram from one app. Facebook Business Suite is the new app that joins an array of Facebook apps designed to enhance engagement levels. The app will be available to small businesses at the start, before being made available to large businesses next year.
The new app is to merge the back-end infrastructure of Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. In return, business owners will receive customers alerts and notifications from all the three apps on Facebook business Suite unified inbox. Plans are underway to integrate WhatsApp as well in the future.
Facebook Business Suite will also let small businesses post to Facebook and Instagram at the same time. The app will also provide insights on how ad campaigns are performing on the individual apps. The integration is part of Facebook's push to protect its advertising business that is under immense pressure more than ever. The more small businesses thrive online, the more ad revenue Facebook is guaranteed.
Antitrust Concerns
Focus on small businesses comes on Facebook coming under pressure in July from major brands led by Verizon and Unilever amid allegations the networking giant was doing little to remove hate speech from its flagship app. In the recent past, there have been calls for the networking app to do more to combat hate speech ahead of the heated November U.S elections.
The integration of Facebook Messenger and Instagram is sure to arouse anti-trust concerns. The European Parliament has already warned that the integration could stifle competition in the networking space. In addition, there are concerns about the scale of data sharing that is poised to happen with the integration.