Yahoo Launches Three Bots on Kik

WATERLOO, Ontario, June 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Kik Interactive, maker of chat network Kik, today announced that it has partnered with Yahoo to bring the company's highly popular weather and news experiences to Kik's Bot Shop. Yahoo is also exploring the Kik platform through a new experience called MonkeyPets, a playful emoji-loving companion. Through this partnership, Yahoo is one of the largest publishers to-date to launch bots on Kik.

"Yahoo has always specialized in creating experiences at the intersection of search, content and communications. Yahoo Weather, Yahoo News, and MonkeyPets on Kik leverage the unique features of the messaging platform to engage users where they live," said Jon Paris, senior product director of Yahoo.

The Yahoo bots will provide Kik users with means of discovering and exploring content in a social context. Yahoo News (@yahoonews) helps users discover, delve deeper, and share the stories that interest them most. Yahoo Weather (@yahooweather) goes beyond simply providing information such as temperature and weather condition, and taps into weather as a shared experience and conversation starter. In addition, Yahoo launched MonkeyPets (@monkeypets), a virtual friend that lives off of emojis and shares selfies from its "travels."

"Bots are the next evolution of the consumer internet," said Josh Jacobs, president of Kik Services. "As consumers spend more of their time in chat apps and download fewer new apps overall, publishers will need to reach users where they live in order to stay relevant. Yahoo is an innovative partner, breaking new ground in the way content is delivered to teens." 

Kik launched its Bot Shop in April 2016, and since then, has seen more than 6,000 bots created on its platform.

About Yahoo
Yahoo is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).

About Kik Interactive, Inc.
Kik Interactive, Inc., connects the world through chat. The company is the maker of Kik, a chat network with more than 300 million registered users including 40 percent of U.S. teens where people can chat with friends and connect with chat-based services. Founded in 2009, Kik Interactive, Inc. is headquartered in Waterloo, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. For more information, please visit: kik.com.

SOURCE Kik Interactive, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.kik.com