The audacity! "No stone unturned" is the motto of Uber's new ad unit. Their growth PMs have been sliding into users lock screens with push notifications advertising Peloton and other third party products. Who needs self-driving cars for profitability when you can simply bombard your users with ads?

Wait... They shipped what!?

WhatsApp launched a train-ticket service in the Indian city of Bangalore.

Details: WhatsApp partnered with Bangalore Metro Rail Corp to introduce the chatbot QR-code service to the platform. Covered use cases include:

• Purchasing single-journey transit tickets

• Recharging metro travel passes

• Checking the latest fares and timetables

Users also get a 5% discount for using WhatsApp's QR-code tickets.

Why it matters: With over 2 billion DAU's, WhatsApp has substantial monetization potential. While WhatsApp makes money through its Business and Payments offerings, the ticketing service is a step up into a much more comprehensive native product. 

WhatsApp sees in-app micro-products as a lever to drive revenue and own more of the business-to-customer relationship. It's a huge opportunity, as WhatsApp is the no.1 customer comms tool for businesses in many emerging markets + parts of Europe.

What to watch: Will WhatsApp expand beyond chat?

The ticketing product is a chatbot service, and if it's successful, there is a world where WhatsApp tries to emulate the WeChat model by enabling more complex non-text apps within its platform.

Features & products hot off the press

Big tech

• Slack rolls out typing indicators for threads 

• Google Chrome ships a new sidebar to view search results  

• WhatsApp launched a QR train ticketing service in Bengaluru 

• Google ships a Halloween-themed playable Doodle 

• Uber tests push notifications serving ads

General and early-stage

• Fabrica launches a generative-AI tool for its creative marketplace 

• Pinecone unveils hybrid keyword-semantic search 

• Gamestop launches its NFT marketplace on Immutable X 

• GM announces a Hummer EV e-bike 

• Revolut adds crypto spending feature to debit cards 

• Driveway launches sensitive-info auto redacting feature

• Merge ships a free plan for API integrations

Getting 1% better at building product

• Retention - Avoiding common myths to reduce churn, by Reforge

• PMF - Finding product market fit with network effects, by Casey Accidental

Broader tech happenings

• Diving in. Apollo Global partners with Anchorage on crypto custody

• Front-end beauty. Shopify acquires Remix to bolster storefront design tools

• Intertwined. EA and Marvel team up on "at least three games" 

• To the mooon. iSpace to send its lander to the moon's surface this month

• Unsocial media. Instagram accidentally suspends thousands of accounts

Courtesy of mindless Twitter scrolling

@jordan_stratton

@reckless

And that’s a wrap for today. Stay tuned for more!

-  Amol