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Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

blog.whatsapp.com

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Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#51

Post by [deleted] »

alandarev wrote: post #24
chrisguitarguy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's because WhatsApp's backend can be turned into a platform that will run WhatsApp itself as well as Facebook Messenger. There's a lot more opportunity to do messaging between businesses and individuals (eg. customer service) as well -- see messenger for business. Not saying Facebook isn't out to sell ads, just that there's probably a lot of reasons that Facebook might want WhatsApp's technology and team.…

No company was acquired for its "backend".

[deleted]

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#52

Post by Psion7 »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #46
Psion7 wrote: post #38

WhatsApp isn't about putting ads into the app but for better data collection. That is why Facebook bought them. Facebook sells ads and targeting data and one of the best ways to analyse a persons life to better target them for ads is from their personal, non-public communication. You will talk about many more things in private conversation with friends and family than you will publicly on your Facebook profile. A sim…

Except, as far as I know, Facebook/WhatsApp shouldn't be able to read the messages people send each other over the WhatsApp network because of end-to-end encryption: https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp/

They say the network communication is encrypted between end points but they don't say analysing is not being done prior to encryption on your end. What I mean is it is possible for the communication over the network to be encrypted between Bob and Alice but everything Bob writes to Alice could easily be used by WhatsApp/Facebook prior to being sent. They could even go as far as to encrypt it and just transmit your side of the conversation to their servers for later analysis.

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#53

Post by IanCal »

yoz-y wrote: post #36
IanCal wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want to have a messaging app, everyone needs to have it. The people I want to talk to most need to have it. > If everyone needs to have it it needs to be free. Or at a cost they're willing to pay. > Even if you could run this app by charging users just 50c, it would fail and get beat by an app that was free. Assuming of course that the other app could sustain itself. I don't understand your argument. SMS wor…

SMS had the advantage that everybody had SMS. This is not the case at all for new messaging services. People do not want to use another messaging service, there are already too many. WhatsApp was one of the first and came in time where connectivity got barely good enough to support the service, that gave them a huge advantage.

> SMS had the advantage that everybody had SMS

Well not everyone (the first one was sent 7 years after the first mobile phone call). And if you want to consider it to be everyone, then it's an example of something where everyone has it yet it's not free.

> People do not want to use another messaging service

No, and therefore you need to offer something better to make up for the annoyance of changing.

I understand your point, it's the clearest example of a network effect and given two identical products the cheaper should be more attractive. However, this doesn't mean it has to have everyone and has to be free. Those are beneficial, but not absolute requirements.

Right now, I'd pay money for a decent messaging service with push & pull, with a simple API that supports sending images. It doesn't even have to have many users, I simply want this service at the moment and will pay money for it.

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#54

Post by iamben »

I didn't realise this was 2012 until I started reading the comments. I wonder how much this post has changed post acquisition. I suspect Facebook grabbed my entire contact list from WhatsApp - the numbers in my phone were the only way to connect me to some of the people they suggest. As much as I hate it, it was a pretty crafty way to extend my social graph.

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#56

Post by Justsignedup »

Psion7 wrote: post #52
mike-cardwell wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, as far as I know, Facebook/WhatsApp shouldn't be able to read the messages people send each other over the WhatsApp network because of end-to-end encryption: https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp/

They say the network communication is encrypted between end points but they don't say analysing is not being done prior to encryption on your end . What I mean is it is possible for the communication over the network to be encrypted between Bob and Alice but everything Bob writes to Alice could easily be used by WhatsApp/Facebook prior to being sent. They could even go as far as to encrypt it and just transmit your s…

Whatsapp is encrypted in transit. It is still stored on their servers. So they can read your messages.

Edit: Link -- https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#58

Post by joeyspn »

Psion7 wrote: post #38

WhatsApp isn't about putting ads into the app but for better data collection. That is why Facebook bought them. Facebook sells ads and targeting data and one of the best ways to analyse a persons life to better target them for ads is from their personal, non-public communication. You will talk about many more things in private conversation with friends and family than you will publicly on your Facebook profile. A sim…

That could explain why I've been getting oddly accurate (highly targeted) ads on FB related to the niche of a new app I'm developing. I haven't liked similar stuff on FB and I was wondering how in the world FB knows that info (I have talked about it extensively via whatsapp). So there are only 2 options:

1- They somewhat are able to read my browser history even when I have ABP with "Fanboy's Social Blocking List" and a selective JS blocker installed.

2- They read my whatsapp messages.

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#59

Post by thomaskcr »

shubhamjain wrote: post #45

One big problem WhatsApp suffers from is having a majority of userbase in developing countries. India, where credit card penetration is still very low and people still are not accustomed to the concept of "buying" software, WhatsApp, simply keeps extending the free subscription period because most of people would find it very hard to pay, even something as little as $0.99. On the contrary, people here are ready to se…

I really don't get the hatred for ads -- it's really weird to me. I haven't been bothered by an ad in probably the past 3 years, I can't remember the last autoplaying ad I saw.

I like ads, they make the internet frictionless. I don't need to worry about what I've paid for -- everything just works in return for giving up a little bit of my screen.

I discovered Atlassian through ads and I really like their products, I assume those were targeted -- so if anything I've benefited from tracking.

Maybe I'm a sheep, but I like easy - and I like that the people providing me with articles, how-tos, etc get paid for doing that. I have yet to see a viable alternative to ads for a low friction internet -- people using adblock are, in my opinion, bringing us closer to the tiered internet than cable mergers ever will.

Re: Why we don't sell ads – WhatsApp Blog

#60

Post by perseusprime »

joeyspn wrote: post #58
Psion7 wrote: post #38

WhatsApp isn't about putting ads into the app but for better data collection. That is why Facebook bought them. Facebook sells ads and targeting data and one of the best ways to analyse a persons life to better target them for ads is from their personal, non-public communication. You will talk about many more things in private conversation with friends and family than you will publicly on your Facebook profile. A sim…

That could explain why I've been getting oddly accurate (highly targeted) ads on FB related to the niche of a new app I'm developing. I haven't liked similar stuff on FB and I was wondering how in the world FB knows that info (I have talked about it extensively via whatsapp). So there are only 2 options: 1- They somewhat are able to read my browser history even when I have ABP with "Fanboy's Social Blocking List" and…

Why don't we test this hypothesis and start talking about something in whatsapp and see if we get ads on facebook?
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