• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, June 3, 2016

Reining in its app diversification strategy, Facebook is shuttering Notify less than a year after its launch.

Seemingly trying to out-Twitter Twitter, Notify encouraged users to subscribe to push notifications from various content providers. No small side project, it launched with more than 70 big-name publishers, including Bloomberg, Comedy Central, CNN and The Weather Channel.

Among other stations, Fox Sports used Notify to serve up end-of-game wrap-ups; The Weather Channel sent out daily weather forecasts; and Fandango debuted new movie trailers as they become available. As with Twitter, Notify users were expected to select the stations that appealed to them to create their own content mix.

Where did Facebook go wrong with Notify? It’s not saying, but there wasn’t likely a huge demand for more push notifications. These days, who needs more push notifications?

Meanwhile, despite its seemingly limitless options, Facebook seems to have decided that there is such a thing as too many apps. As such, it plans to “transition” Notify’s assets and publisher partners to Messenger and other existing properties.

Still, Facebook isn’t counting Notify as a loss. On the contrary, “We’ve learned a lot about how to make notifications as timely and relevant as possible,” according to a Facebook spokesperson.

The shift is also part of a broader effort to grow Messenger into an app of Facebook-like proportions. And, with around 900 million monthly active users, Messenger appears to be well on its way.