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WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

nytimes.com

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Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#571

Post by whiplash451 »

d3vmax wrote: post #426

Alice Newton-Rex, head of product at WhatsApp: “Alongside of private messaging, people were saying they wanted to hear more about topics, teams and organizations across WhatsApp.” - I am pretty sure NO ONE asked to hear about more topics and organizations across whatsapp.

It's the usual Facebook trick: run an AB test with and without ads, observe CTR and sales without too much drop off on one side and conclude that "everyone is better off with ads" (without really trying to filter out bot traffic)

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#572

Post by throwaway2037 »

snapcaster wrote: post #2

Surprised it took them this long

Line messaging app that is popular in Japan has had adverts for years. They aren't very intrusive. I am fine with it. They also sell "stickers" (elaborate emojis) as an alternative revenue stream. They are surprisingly popular amoung all ages. If WhatsApp takes a page from their book, I will be fine with it. I have never paid a penny to FaceBook/Meta for running this amazing, free service. Nothing is free in this world.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#573

Post by dzonga »

mrweasel wrote: post #553
lynx97 wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. I only use WhatsApp because friends and acquaintances of mine use it. I have NEVER had the need to send a video, nor a photo to anyone. I would be totally happy using iMessage or even SMS. The ONLY reason I have WhatsApp installed is peer pressure. No need for any of its features. No need to pay for it either.

Agreed, iMessage and SMS are both free, so why would I pay for WhatsApp again? With RCS starting to work better, I don't really see a need for 3rd. party messaging apps. I do like Signal, but honestly I don't have a need for it.

in a lot of countries not called America / Western Europe SMS costs are high. Hence why Whatsapp took off. Even phone calls there's nothing called unlimited mins / unlimted sms everything is metered - off-net / on-net data sold by bundles etc with some carriers you can even buy whatsapp "bundle" where you can access whatsapp but not regular data

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#574

Post by keiferski »

chgs wrote: post #554
keiferski wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is because humans spent thousands, tens of thousands of years not doing much other than searching for food and trading one physical object for another physical object. The idea of trading something valuable for an abstract piece of software or paper is still not really natural to us, and is a learned behavior.

On the other hand paying for service is the oldest profession going

Yep and the success of SAAS compared to low cost, buy it once software (like apps) is a testament to that.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#576

Post by zelphirkalt »

fanwood wrote: post #539
EbNar wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd literally PAY for a mod taking away the "updates" tab. I don't care about stories nor I want channels shoved in my face. I just need to message someone, from time to time.

I found the solution by convincing all my friends and family, one by one, to move to Signal. I still use Whatsapp for people who did not migrate, but it's surprisingly possible (if not easy) to convince people to use another app

I mean, I try every now and then to get someone to write me on Signal, because they won't find me on Whatsapp, but even once close friends don't seem to find it necessary and continue to use Whatsapp. Guess I am not important enough in their life. Others are a little misinformed, they think using Signal is just a German thing, but are willing to try. Others have their entrenched messenger being Whatsapp and they will take that to their grave with them, before they try anything else for a person they don't know well yet.

With some people it worked though and we are using Signal for some time now. Maybe it is too much to expect a 100% success rate for switching.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#577

Post by palata »

tigroferoce wrote: post #519
palata wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's 100% unrealistic that a global, always on, high availability, high security service is free. What about Signal? It seems like they run on donations, don't they?

True, but they are a much smaller service. I remember that WhatsApp was designed to be lean and very efficient so that it would run on a small number of servers. But this it different from a highly profitable service. Let's keep in mind that Meta payed 19B for WhatsApp in 2014. They need a juicy ROI.

> True, but they are a much smaller service.

I wonder how it scales. It is an order of magnitude smaller but it's not exactly "small": I read it had 70M users in 2024. If you can relay messages between 70M messages without storing metadata, it feels like it shouldn't be too hard to scale, right?

Not sure if they get enough donations, but assuming they do: with 10x the number of users, if they get 10x the donations, it feels like it may work.

> Meta payed 19B for WhatsApp in 2014. They need a juicy ROI.

I think they paid for the metadata (I know that back then it wasn't E2EE but they moved to the Signal protocol in 2016), and now they are just enshittifying.

I have seen criticisms of Signal's crypto stuff (which I just disabled) and trademark, but I don't get it. It's okay to not use the crypto stuff (I personally don't like it) as long as it doesn't clutter the UI. Sponsored content says "for those who like this feature, they will now see ads". It's pretty different from saying "if you don't like the feature, don't use it", IMHO.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#578

Post by wkat4242 »

alias_neo wrote: post #570
fanwood wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found the solution by convincing all my friends and family, one by one, to move to Signal. I still use Whatsapp for people who did not migrate, but it's surprisingly possible (if not easy) to convince people to use another app

I moved my family over to Signal years ago. Anyone new who wants to message me, I simply say "I'm on Signal" and if it's important enough, they go and install it; it's been fairly frictionless, after all how hard is it to download an app and go through the fairly minimal registration process; and for someone already using WhatsApp, "one more account" probably isn't a major concern. I tried various steps in the past t…

For me the "one more account" is really a problem. WhatsApp is the standard messenger in most of the EU.

And I don't want to go to signal because it's only marginally better. It's still American and still a walled garden (no third party apps allowed, no federation). It's a slightly less smelly walled garden.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#579

Post by whiplash451 »

avhception wrote: post #509
yarekt wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay for services that you use instead of forcing companies to rely on ad revenue to run their useful service? I get it though, no one wants to pay for 100s of little free marginally useful things we use every day, but if you look back at what whatsapp did in the beginning, the £3 a year they were asking is so worth it

I remember when it was 1€/year. Absolutely totally worth it! And I'd gladly pay again if they would only let me!

They will make so much more than 1€/year/user with (y)our data.
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