Dan Levy

Dan Levy is Smooch's Editorial Director. A journalist by training and content strategist by accident, he's fascinated by the ways messaging is changing our relationships with brands and each other.

Facebook is Unifying WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct

Dan Levy - 01 February 2019

Facebook facebook messenger instagram the message Whatsapp whatsapp business api instagram direct encryption tik tok

The New York Times broke the news last week that Facebook plans to unify the pipes of its three massively-popular messaging apps. As the Times and other news outlets were quick to point out, the technical merger raises a myriad of questions about privacy, security, and government regulation. It also...

Google's Two-Pronged Plan to Dominate Consumer-to-Business Messaging

Dan Levy - 26 January 2019

google RCS google my business byline whatsapp business api

At the end of last year, Google announced it was officially pulling the plug on Allo, its latest in a long list of failed messaging apps....

State of Messaging 2019: Industry report

Dan Levy - 22 January 2019

state of messaging report

To kick off 2019, we asked 34 senior product and CX professionals about the current state of conversational business and technology. Our second annual State of Messaging report is packed with original infographics and exclusive insights from execs at software companies including Drift, Intercom, Google, HubSpot and Genesys, and brands...

Voice Messaging Rising in Popularity in Great Britain, China

Dan Levy - 14 December 2018

the message omnichannel voice messaging voice memos christmas WeChat

The holiday season has arrived in a flurry of flash sales, best-of-the-year lists and questionable Christmas-themed comeback albums (I’m looking at you, Eric Clapton). On the darker side of the communications landscape, consumers also tend to report a surge in telephone scams during these festive weeks, according to The...

The New York Times Creates an Angry Uncle Chatbot for Thanksgiving

Dan Levy - 30 November 2018

chatbots the message new york times angry uncle google my business RCS

Black Friday/Cyber Monday/binge-shopping week has come and gone and, according to LivePerson, customers messaged with brands 97% more than they did last year. Yet amid the growing buzz around conversational commerce, the season's most-celebrated chat experience so far was published by a 167-year-old newspaper. And the only thing...