In what appears to be a desperate bid to get more business, Facebook has announced that it will be offering free Bluetooth beacons to retailers.

According to PC Mag, Facebook is happily giving Bluetooth beacons to retailers, without levying any charges, hoping that this publicity will help them get more business for their Place Tips feature that was originally introduced in January. This unique feature focuses on highlighting all the relevant information about the users current location. For users who have enabled the location feature, the information promptly appears on the top of the news feed; however, in order for them to be able to use the facility, the company or business owner needs to send a unique beacon to the customer's device. It is this beacon that will register the location of the device and come back with the required information. The beacon is a one way signal that goes to the device.

Like Us on Facebook

In its initial phase of implementation, Facebook had successfully tied up with NYC hotspots Dominique Ansel Bakery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other popular destinations and now the company is offering the beacons for free. All interested party needs to do is to register themselves online.

Meanwhile, a report on Facebook website claims that the beacons are being distributed to limited number of businesses at one time. According to another report on Hot Hardware, the new feature will make it possible for business owners to engage their customers in a better way. The big advantage for business owners is that they can invite consumers to like their page, do check-ins, like photos and a lot more.

This unique feature was introduced in New York in its testing phase and seems to have enjoyed quite a successful run as Facebook looks to expand its business. Additionally, the feature is not mandatory. Users who don't want to get the notifications can conveniently log into their account settings and make the changes. As of now, the free beacons don't allow businesses to advertise their offerings.

TagsFacebook news, facebook update, Facebook new version