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WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

nytimes.com

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Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#581

Post by palata »

tigroferoce wrote: post #522
ReptileMan wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>so I understand Meta's appetite to become the West WeChat Revolut will probably get there first >It's 100% unrealistic that a global, always on, high availability, high security service is free. These things are expensive and they need to be monetized. Do you have any information how much whatsapp costs per user per month? Threema seems to be doing fine with just one 5$ forever.

I have no numbers. I remember that it was designed to be very efficient and easy to maintain, but this was before Meta bought it. Things probably changed, and keep in mind that they need to return of the 19B investment in 2014, so they are probably aiming at much more than just covering the costs.

> they need to return of the 19B investment in 2014

WhatsApp gave Meta a huge social graph: who writes to whom and when. That they used for their other services. Surely that already brought value.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#582

Post by whiplash451 »

bootsmann wrote: post #556
b0a04gl wrote: post #427

everyone saw this coming the day facebook bought it, but the real issue isn't ads in status . it's that the platform is now locked into meta's attention monetization engine. the founders explicitly said no ads. now not only ads, but paid channels, algorithmic exposure, and user segmentation creeping in. most people won't switch because of network effects, so meta can keep tightening the screws. this isn't about reven…

> most people won't switch because of network effects, so meta can keep tightening the screws Network effects are much much smaller for messaging apps vis-a-vis social networks because there is no problem in incrementally moving your DMs from one place to another.

There is a massive barrier to switching.

In order to switch, you also need to convince your acquaintances to switch.

Good luck with that.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#583

Post by Yeri »

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.

SMS is definitely not free. You may have a bundle that includes X (or unlimited) amount of SMS, but there are plenty of subscriptions out there (maybe not in the US) that charge by the SMS, or come with bundles of only having, say, 50 free SMS per month.

In all fairness, no one uses SMS, and no one uses iMessage (outside of the US maybe?).

WhatsApp is omnipresent in Singapore. For example, every business, every support channel, every delivery company uses WhatsApp. WhatsApp QR codes are everywhere (similar to QQ/wechat in CN).

Most iPhone users I know in Singapore never even set up their iMessage (which is also only available on iOS and is a total pain to get to work if you're dabbling in various sim cards, as is very common in SEA). So yes, there's a very good reason WhatsApp is very popular in some parts of the world (similar to BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) until quite recently in Indonesia). It's become too big to fail and took over a very very big portion of (private/business) communication in many parts of the world. And it 100% needs more regulation.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#584

Post by latexr »

mrweasel wrote: post #555
SlowTao wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the Apple App store came along it was wild seeing how quickly software went from $10 down to 0.99c in the space of less than a year. And then it was only a matter of time before it dropped to zero. Once it hit zero, the tolerance for payment of any kind went to zero as well for a very large portion of people. Apps and the internet in general, for most people, is considered almost weightless and zero cost. In the…

I'd really wish Apple would add a "Exclude apps with in-app purchase" filter to their app store. I don't mind paying for an app, I mind subscriptions and in-app purchases.

> I'd really wish Apple would add a "Exclude apps with in-app purchase" filter to their app store.

Unfortunately that would still exclude plenty of good apps. There are a ton which are “free” with limited options and then have a one-time in-app purchase to unlock the full thing.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#585

Post by whiplash451 »

landhar wrote: post #562

June 18, 2012 -> https://blog.whatsapp.com/why-we-don-t-sell-ads Almost 13 years to the day! I find it really frustrating that I am not able to avoid using whatsapp due to how popular it is to the point that it’s become the go-to communication channel for most things :/

Indeed. And the worse isn't that we'll have to deal with ads. The worse is that people will stick around despite the ads, which only goes to show how powerful the grip of Meta on our societies is.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#586

Post by bootsmann »

whiplash451 wrote: post #582
bootsmann wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people won't switch because of network effects, so meta can keep tightening the screws Network effects are much much smaller for messaging apps vis-a-vis social networks because there is no problem in incrementally moving your DMs from one place to another.

There is a massive barrier to switching. In order to switch, you also need to convince your acquaintances to switch. Good luck with that.

There is no switching involved, you can have two apps installed at the same time. It's not a social network where posting to one means the people posting on the other won't see your stuff.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#587

Post by heresie-dabord »

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.

From TFA:

"Meta’s ad business is “in as strong a position now as it’s ever been,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst and founder of the consulting firm Madison and Wall. The company’s share of the global digital ad business is around 15 percent, he said. Last year, almost all of Meta’s $164 billion in revenue came from advertising."

TL;dr: Advertising business injects more advertising.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#588

Post by yard2010 »

camillomiller wrote: post #450
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.

How do one cope on a day to day basis with this level of blatant bullshittery, apart from justifying it with a golden salary? Is this person aware that her role is to enact a farce, or even engineer such farce?

It's either "if you can't beat them join them" or "kill it with fire".

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#589

Post by whiplash451 »

mrtksn wrote: post #8

Does anybody have stats on how many people are O.K. paying for their core services, i.e. how many people pay for paid personal e-mail services? I just don't want to believe that our services have to be paid for through proxy by giving huge cut to 3rd parties. The quality goes down both as UX and as core content, our attention span is destroyed, our privacy is violated and our political power is being stolen as conten…

At this point, you could have governments finance this piece of infrastructure.

This would cost $350M/year to Europe [1] -- which is a drop of the ocean in their budget -- in exchange for control of information.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

[1] assuming the initial business model of whatsapp was cash neutral, which I think it was

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#590

Post by HenryBemis »

The below comment does not contribute to the discussion, it can be perceived as a negative one, and I should probably not make it. But these are my true feelings towards everyone who uses anything-Facebook/Meta:

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha and then after I catch my breath, a bit more hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Seriously, who expected anything different? Like.. in which universe does anything think "Facebook/Meta is going to do the right thing"(?)

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