With ads coming to Snapchat, possibly valued at $20 billion, what about Facebook’s 19$ billion acquisition WhatsApp?
CEO Mark Zuckerberg says there are no ‘near term’ plans to monetize WhatsApp. Currently the messaging app has just a $0.99 annual charge as its revenue stream. Facebook’s own Messenger app is free, but it has a sticker store which looks ready for monetization. WhatsApp doesn’t have any obvious space for monetization yet, although it could go the same route as LINE one day.
Facebook has plenty of monetization methods itself, like the rumored Pay via Messenger which could be a PayPal competitor. There’s its advertising platform Atlas, and of course the mountain of user data it holds to help advertisers find their target.
Speaking in India, Zuckerberg’s comments have put to rest rumors that Facebook would want to quickly monetize WhatsApp, especially as its cost had risen to around $22 billion by the time the deal closed on Monday.
Source: Reuters
Related Stories
Will you be able to pay with Facebook Messenger soon?
WhatsApp for iOS updated with returning support for iCloud backups
WhatsApp bug is resetting some users’ privacy settings
Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @jonathanriggall
