WhatsApp users no longer receive their smartphones notice that reminds them to pay the subscription to continue using the instant messaging application
BBC
This week, to the delight of many users, WhatsApp announced that its service will be completely free .
Jan Koum, WhatsApp president, currently owned by Facebook, confirmed that platform will stop charging a dollar as a subscription.
“For years we have asked people to pay for using WhatsApp after their first year. As we have grown, we find that this method has not worked well . Many users of WhatsApp not have credit cards or debit cards and worry about losing access to their families and friends after the first year, “he said.
Once you remove the annual use fee, the company not going to get any income from the instant messaging application.
Nor does the service has advertising mechanism other free sites such as Facebook, used as a business model.
So, how will make money?
No ads
For a while, Jan Koum had a note on his desk that he reads . “No ads, no games, no gimmicks”
And think well continue as WhatsApp has made abundantly clear that not open the door to ads
<. p> “The answer to whether third-party advertising be introduced is … no,” said Monday the company said in a statement.
It is the opposite to that followed in Instagram strategy, also bought by Facebook in 2012.
Advertising has been the only source of income for an application used by 400 million people.
New tools
WhatsApp strategy for making money are the professional services .
“From this year will test tools that allow you to use Whatsapp to communicate with businesses and organizations. This means contact your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent or with an airline for flight delays, “the company said.
It would be a kind of surcharge customer where large companies pay WhatsApp to communicate and record the calls and complaints from customers.
In this way, Whatsapp become a digital platform like Facebook has already done Messenger, the other application messaging social network with 800 million users.
Whatsapp has 990 million users around the world , so having service communication companies will surely affect the entire software market customer, as well as models based on phone calls to make claims.
More common in Asia
So far no dates have not reported details of the product offered to companies but Asia this strategy has been a success Messaging .Applications countries like China and South Korea have made profitable by becoming electronic trading platforms with countless services and products.
The clearest is surely WeChat , founded in 2011 within the Internet giant Tencent and has 650 million users.
Today is not only an instant messaging application both private users and large organizations . It also includes a Facebook-like social “wall” where all kinds of content being shared.
the possibility of allowing it to perform many daily activities adds. For example, call a cab, arrange an appointment or pay a fine.
The phenomenon is also advancing in the US and other countries.
Uber reported last month that will allow users order a car through Facebook Messenger, a service similar to WeChat messages.
Meanwhile, Google is developing a new chat application that uses artificial intelligence.
The application already incorporates snapchat news, while the startup Slack Technologies has pioneered the chat platform as a hub of communication and collaboration in the workplace.
According Analysts messaging applications, to be easy to use and have a large number of users who spend much time centers are ideal for developing other services.
Originally published on BBC News
No comments:
Post a Comment