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WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

nytimes.com

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Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#731

Post by PaulHoule »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #638
_Algernon_ wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Translation: After going through a far too large number of focus groups that didn't want it we finally found one that phrased a reply in such a way, that after removing context and playing Chinese whispers up the management chain, can be interpreted as them wanting ads.

Nah, it's even simpler than that: after shoving enough surveys in users' faces (as they seem to semi-regularly do across all Meta products; I've had at least 2 in WhatsApp alone over the past few months), they've collected enough misclicks and drunk responses to be able to interpret them as lots of people wanting ads.

I was playing a lot of Beat Saber in April and got a survey which asked bizzare questions like “Do I want to use VR to manage my calendar?” They went so far as to ask for times I might be available for a focus group then they ghosted me.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#732

Post by ajsnigrutin »

PenguinCoder wrote: post #317
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me? Never again. I used to... like some app, paid for a "PRO" version to get additonal features. Everything was ok. Then 6 months went by, and they added a cloud feature, to upload some stuff and configs and sync between devices, and it turned from one time payment to a subscription plan. Then built-in features got moved into the cloud, and previously working stuff didn't work without subscriptions anymore. Then they…

Which app? I paid for pro fairmail and don't have that issue with the app, currently. Which is what I'd expect.

I forgot what it was called, it was years ago. It was one of those "scan" with the camera to create PDFs of documents with some basic OCR included. The cloud feature gave you some cloud space, but OCR has to be done on the cloud (used to be locally done).

Even some quasi opensource software is no better... OsmAnd (openstreetmaps for android app) had a paid "OsmAnd+" version (that i bought), and then they decided they need a "pro" version too, 2.99/month, to get 3d relief and "colored routes".

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#733

Post by MyPasswordSucks »

Aerbil313 wrote: post #208

Today is the day the notion of the 'internet is free, good and a convenience' is over for the global public. WhatsApp was the first ever primary convenience brought by the advent of the internet - it fulfilled a legitimate need all over the world by providing essentially free, limitless, boundless communication if you had few megabytes of internet in your mobile quota. It is to this day the #1 most used app for a goo…

> WhatsApp was the first ever primary convenience brought by the advent of the internet - it fulfilled a legitimate need all over the world by providing essentially free, limitless, boundless communication if you had few megabytes of internet in your mobile quota.

Yes, truly WhatsApp was the first of its kind. It's all the communication of sending a letter through the mail, except delivered electronically - one wonders why they didn't call it "electronic mail", or perhaps "e-mail" for short.

The group chats it offers are another huge innovation - for the first time, people were able to chat with each other by relaying their messages across the internet. Truly a marvel.

Personally, I divide the internet into two eras - "before Whatsapp", when there was simply no primary convenience of any sort to be found upon the internet and all users were deeply encumbered by bounds; and "after Whatsapp", when I and others can communicate, conveniently, via the internet, because of WhatsApp, boundlessly.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#734

Post by SergeAx »

evrimoztamur wrote: post #637
elric wrote: post #605

Can we get a federated messenger already? Sure, we have email, but the MS/Google duopoloy has effectively unfederated that, with their inscrutable block lists and nonexistent appeals processes, allegedly in order to protect you from spam. Sure, XMPP is a thing, which has been mostly dead for well over a decade. Sure, Matrix is a thing, but every time I look at it, all I see is criticism of its specifications and poor…

We do not need federated messaging at the consumer app level, we need a replacement that's available at the cellular network level (just like SMS). RCS ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services ) is trying to do this, but it might be too little too late.

Cellular network is a terrible data transport solution. That's why we have TCP/IP on top of it.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#735

Post by rainonmoon »

k_bx wrote: post #447

I really hope it helps them build a decent app, but I doubt it. In Ukraine, there's a huge problem of Telegram being so feature-rich compared to WhatsApp that it's impossible to convince people to do the switch, even under the national security threat.

This Telegram? https://www.newsweek.com/telegram-messenger-russia-fsb-ties-...

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#736

Post by hocuspocus »

averageRoyalty wrote: post #711
hocuspocus wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In practice RCS is entirely run by Google outside China, the path to federation was killed around 2019 when Google decided every MNO should eventually move to Jibe if they wanted access to a global interconnected RCS, same on the client side. I don't think it's too late as iOS finally supports RCS. But so far Google hasn't shown willingness to let unsanctioned clients connect to Jibe.

What? In practice, RCS is run by carriers in most of the world. They connect to hubs, the same way SMS hubs work and also have Universal Profiles. Jibe is not small, but it hardly runs the worlds RCS. Maybe you're conflating the US with the world?

Jibe is the only RCS backend in 180+ countries. The few MNOs that had deployed third party solutions (mostly from Mavenir and WIT) eventually killed them off once Google made clear they weren't interested in a federated network anymore.

The US was actually the only market where a federated RCS was tried at scale for a few years (the CCMI) but all carriers eventually gave in as the UX was poor and unreliable.

To my knowledge there are only two other non-Jibe RCS "islands": China (that runs RCS solutions from national providers like ZTE) and +Message in Japan. +Message is on its way out, as carriers are now pushing subscribers to Google Messages and Jibe, anticipating the iOS support.

And Apple is in on it: MNOs don't have a choice here, they now need formal agreements with Google (Jibe is paid through RBM revenue share) and IMS configuration and (de)provisioning workflows that are sanctioned by Apple and de facto tested only against Jibe.

Apple's communication around E2EE in UP 3.0 is also directly following Google's work on replacing their ad-hoc Signal implementation by MLS.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#737

Post by gjm11 »

lynx97 wrote: post #675
Cipater wrote: post #610

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that more diverse leadership leads to better outcomes doesn't mean women are incapable of wrongdoing. Nobody said women are perfect angels who can do no wrong. That's a strawman and you know it. Be better, come on.

> Be better, come on. I am male. I can't "be better", I am already "the problem". Which is a reason why I am so fed up be the fight of the sexes. Its overboarding accusations on all sides. And I am not willing to "turn the other cheek" anymore. > Nobody said women are perfect angels who can do no wrong Ahem, the "believe all women" crowd did and do.

Less of this culture-war nonsense here, please. Especially in a thread about something completely unrelated. (No, the fact that the exec in question is female doesn't make it related. If they'd been male then someone could equally-relevantly make the argument "see, this shows that we need more women in leadership".)

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#738

Post by maineldc »

sebastiennight wrote: post #710
jen20 wrote: post #695

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fun fact is that those people have 100+ apps on their phones, which run in the background, draining their batteries, tracking the sh*t out of them, This is wildly untrue on iOS. Perhaps people have 100+ apps. But the rest, not so much.

You're saying that having all the apps open at the same time won't drain the iPhone's battery? Because normal people just never close apps. Are they silently shut down/paused after a while?

Yes - on iOS only a few things can be done in the background but most apps are frozen eventually when the are no longer in the foreground.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#739

Post by [deleted] »

phyrex wrote: post #658
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…

It's been 11 years. If they hadn't been bought they'd have found a different monetization model long ago

[deleted]

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#740

Post by wheybags »

frm88 wrote: post #453
wheybags wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should anyone appreciate paragraphs of text from someone who thinks Europeans can't use payment cards? What reason would I have to presume the content of said paragraphs is better informed, given they have trivially disprovable rubbish up front?

You might want to have a look at the usage stats of payment cards (here specifically credit cards) globally. You would realise that usage is low in Europe, compared to the US. https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/people_with_credit... . Most payments are done with regular banking and/or bank specific cards. The latter are not accepted by online platforms, the former has indeed transfer fees in many countries. Th…

I've lived in the EU my entire life, in three different countries. I have visited and have friends in many more countries. Literally everybody I know has either a visa or mastercard debit card. Yes, people dont use credit cards specifically, they use debit cards, but it literally does not matter, the infrastructure is the same. Seeing ignorant Americans talk about Europe online like it's some backwater that doesn't even have card payment, is frankly offensive.
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