WhatsApp is initially moving away from years of smoldering plans to introduce advertising to the chat service. Most recently, work has been done on placing ads in the so-called status area, in which users can share photos and videos that disappear after a day with their WhatsApp contacts. Now a spokesman said on Friday that they still see a long-term opportunity – but there is no detailed schedule for it.
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Previously, “Wall Street Journal“reports that the team that was supposed to draft the ad plans had been disbanded.
WhatsApp has long struggled to find the right business model. The WhatsApp founders once categorically rejected any advertising on their messenger and originally wanted to fund the chat service with a subscription fee of one dollar a year. Then they sold the company to Facebook in 2014 for around $ 19 billion. The internet company – which is financed almost exclusively through advertising – initially also opted for a free WhatsApp and took time to consider how money could be made with the chat service.
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Plans currently being followed by Facebook include asking companies to checkout for additional features when communicating with their customers via WhatsApp, such as to take orders or help with problems with their products. Work is also underway to introduce a payment function in several countries.
The dispute over the plans to include advertising in WhatsApp is considered a central trigger for the departure of the two WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who initially stayed on board after the takeover by Facebook. Both had announced their exit from the group one year apart.
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