SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook said today the number of users of its Messenger application had topped one billion, a key milestone as it seeks to expand the platform to new services.The growth in Messenger gives greater reach to Facebook, which is moving to create a "family" of applications beyond the social network. "As part of this journey to one billion, we focused on creating the best possible experiences in modern day communications," said Facebook vice president David Marcus in a statement. "WhatsApp, which is managed independently, does not accept advertising but is exploring ways to allow businesses to use it to connect with customers.According to the company, Messenger is the second most popular application in Apple's iOS system behind Facebook itself.Facebook said more than 17 billion photos are sent to friends through Messenger every month and that Messenger users have played 1.2 billion games of virtual basketball. "We remain focused on helping connect people to the people and businesses who matter most. "We will see that happens in the coming months, but I think that once you have an ecosystem that starts working between businesses and so many users on Messenger, we'll find more monetization vectors in the future," Marcus said.

Source: Economic Times July 21, 2016 04:52 UTC