Facebook lets users send businesses private messages
Facebook is going to offer local businesses a customer support feature, allowing customers to send&nbsp;private messages to business pages directly from news feed ads. The messages will show which ad prompted each user to contact the business. Businesses will also be able to respond to public comments on their Facebook page with private messages.&nbsp;
Facebook is letting users respond to local-awareness ads with private messages, turning the promos into customer-service tools. The feature, which evidently will not be available to national brands, includes a "Send Message" button that local marketers can affix to their ads.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company announced the development Wednesday in a blog post in which it also revealed that page administrators for Facebook marketers will be able to reply to public comments with private messages.

This feature should help social-media managers avoid the sometimes unpleasant back-and-forth banter that can go on between brands and consumers on Facebook pages.