WhatsApp introduces ads in its app • Hacker News Board

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#321

Post by magicalhippo » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #256

stonogo wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... MMS, then?

MMS has terrible limitations, in both file size and media resolution. RCS has replaced MMS as a protocol back in 2008 and it's only now gaining traction. Many carriers have shut down their RCS infrastructure half a decade ago, though, so they're not exactly jumping on the chance to turn it back on.

I enabled RCS on my Samsung S21, but had to disable it after a day or two. It just didn't work reliably.

But yea MMS sucks, would be nice with some common cross-platform alternative that worked well.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#322

Post by eddythompson80 » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 1:43 AM UTC

Groxx wrote: post #309

eddythompson80 wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even mediocre food is still functional, and usually still enjoyable. That's not even remotely close to being true. Plenty of people would order a $25 dish at a place and not like it. Not finishing the dish, or throwing a way a half eaten candy bar or bad-tasting-$6-cup of coffee is very normal. Plenty of (if most) food is meh or not enjoyable. It just serves a purpose and fills you and you move on.

If you're routinely buying and throwing out $25 plates of food, then you're in a different income bracket than many people. And then, yes, avoiding a $3 app is more nonsensical than for most.

No one said you’re routinely doing it. It just happens for thing at orders of magnitude higher than what can be asked for software. One bad coffee, or meal or a %20 tip on a $40 order of pizza is far more than the 1.99 or 3.99 software can ask for, and it’s still too much. Tipping $5 or a $10 is not a big deal, but a $1.99 app is like “ooof, is there like a free version?”

It’s not even a blanket statement on software. gamers have shown they are willing to pay, though their money comes with strings attached. Mac users are more willing to pay than Windows users who are more willing to pay than Linux users.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#323

Post by adithyassekhar » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 1:50 AM UTC

danpalmer wrote: post #318

> The promotions will appear only in an area of the app called Updates, which is used by around 1.5 billion people a day Is that 1.5 billion people engaging with it, or 1.5 billion people seeing it because it's the first tab and then immediately switching to "Chats", the only useful tab in the app?

Chats is the default and first tab.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#324

Post by nsagent » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:11 AM UTC

tomsmeding wrote: post #225

nsagent wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have Signal on my phone and laptop. For some reason my laptop desynced from the phone, so my chat history now has a missing block of message history (that exists on the phone). I did nothing obvious to cause that desync. My guess is that my phone updated the Signal app, and I didn't update it on the laptop in lockstep. That's not a great UX, especially since there is no notification that this might happen.

Desync happens simply after a month of not using the PC client. Yes, it's that short.

Oh wow. Good to know! Thanks for the heads up.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#325

Post by makeitdouble » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:12 AM UTC

AndrewDavis wrote: post #297

makeitdouble wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people would never pay for software. I mostly share your conclusion, but I think there is a specific twist: most people will pay for on the spot transactions. We see it in spades for games: in-app purchases and season passes have a lower barrier of acceptance. I assume buying stones to unlock a character must be thought at the same level as buying coffee, as just a one-time purchase that doesn't require further cal…

It'd be interesting to see open data about this. My understanding is games with microtransactions optimise for "whales", people who spend inordinate amounts of money. While the majority of users don't pay anything, or at most very little.

My understanding is whales make the mobile gaming industry the juggernaut it is, but without whales it would still be a sizeable market.

My mental image of it is looking at Apple when the iPhone was 2 or 3 years old, and today's Apple: its current size dwarfs the Apple of back in the days, but it wasn't some small also-ran company, it's impact on the whole industry was still pretty big.

AppsFlyer's data on this was interesting, while not straightforward to interpret from our angle.

https://www.appsflyer.com/resources/reports/app-marketing-mo...

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#326

Post by theturtletalks » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:13 AM UTC

leokennis wrote: post #7

At least in The Netherlands, WhatsApp could show a 60 second unskippable modal ad video on every launch, and still get away with it due to network effects. If you’re not on WhatsApp, no updates or news from your kids school, your sports team, your family, your car dealership etc. for you.

It's the same in many countries, especially the developing ones. In Kenya for example, you can run out of data but Whatsapp will still work. It's that crucial to daily life, it's get an exception by telecom companies.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#327

Post by chrismorgan » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:16 AM UTC

I’m actually surprised to learn that channels didn’t already have paid promotion. I just assumed it did, because that’s the way that kind of thing always works. But I’ve never touched Channels, and haven’t seen others doing so either.

As for status updates… that’s something many people seem to actually use, so ads in there may have an effect.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#328

Post by Groxx » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:26 AM UTC

eddythompson80 wrote: post #322

Groxx wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're routinely buying and throwing out $25 plates of food, then you're in a different income bracket than many people. And then, yes, avoiding a $3 app is more nonsensical than for most.

No one said you’re routinely doing it. It just happens for thing at orders of magnitude higher than what can be asked for software. One bad coffee, or meal or a %20 tip on a $40 order of pizza is far more than the 1.99 or 3.99 software can ask for, and it’s still too much. Tipping $5 or a $10 is not a big deal, but a $1.99 app is like “ooof, is there like a free version?” It’s not even a blanket statement on software…

Yeah, I'm not claiming nobody pays for software. Clearly many do. Just that I understand people's default aversion - I encounter far more software than food that I would label "shit", despite eating far more food in total.

And software often requires you to enter payment info into who know what system (plus your phone number (plus make an account (plus opt into receiving spam from them until the universe dies))), if you're not using google play / the iOS app store. In a restaurant you put your card into the thing and you're done.

Also this:

>It just serves a purpose and fills you and you move on.

Is something many pieces of software I've used cannot even dream of achieving. They solely wasted my time.

It's why I think it's a shame that demos are a dying breed.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#329

Post by rescbr » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:30 AM UTC

herewulf wrote: post #252

Symbiote wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price is one of the few things that's always available when choosing between flights. Journey time is the other, and people will pay for a shorter journey or shorter layovers. Strangely, some of my colleagues have 'paid' (work's money, their time) extra to avoid Ryanair, when Ryanair has the only direct connection. This I find strange. Given the choice, I've long paid a little more if it means an Airbus plane, as…

I'll happily pay more for an Airbus plane or even an older Boeing model because I prefer not to crash and die.

Yeah, I pretty much prefer to be surprised whenever the flight I’m on is scheduled on an A320neo compared to being surprised whenever a B737-Max is scheduled for my flight. That’s why I avoid flying with the airline that has a Boeing fleet in my country.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#330

Post by seltzered_ » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 2:31 AM UTC

Something to remember is that back in 2018 there mightve been a different vision around WhatsApp businesses possibly helping subsidizing the app for things that are useful for their customers.

From a 2018 interview of Brian Acton after he left Facebook ( https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive... ):

" "An SMS has just come in from his local Honda dealer saying “payment received.” He points to it on his phone.

“This is what I wanted people to do with WhatsApp,” he says of the world’s biggest messaging service, "