WhatsApp, a popular messaging service that Facebook owns, has managed to capture more than 1 billion daily users, based on the parent company's earnings report for the second quarter of 2017.
WhatsApp And WhatsApp Status Record Steep Daily User Numbers
That success also led into WhatsApp Status, an undeniable Snapchat clone, reaching 250 million daily users.
Users also continue to send over 55 billion messages and 4.5 billion photos each day, according to the earnings report.
Arguably more popular with international audiences than U.S. folks, WhatsApp currently supports 60 languages — a factor which certainly contributes to its overall, multicultural appeal. The free to download app stands as a stellar replacement for SMS messaging thanks to its ease of access, user-friendly interface, and several features not found in traditional SMS.
WhatsApp Status, a recently released feature uncannily similar to Snapchat Stories, racked up 175 million users by May, adding 75 million users in just under two months. By contrast, Snapchat lags behind with 166 million daily users, and by April, Instagram Stories, another Snapchat clone, recorded 200 million daily users.
Facebook Wants To Show You More Ads
Meanwhile, Facebook continues to commit to displaying more ads across its apps. Instagram had once featured little to zero ads but now displays them frequently. The Facebook app already does so; however, Messenger will also begin showing them. Still in the late testing phase, Facebook plans to put ads on the Messenger platform soon, with the ads lined up between individual conversation threads.
From a business perspective, the move sounds logical. Facebook has something it calls "ad load," or the number of ads it can show on one platform before, well, it starts getting too annoying and intrusive. Back in 2016, Facebook warned investors that it has pretty much maxed out its ad load.
So naturally, Facebook has no other recourse but to put ads in other places beyond the main site.
It plans to roll out ads on Messenger piece by piece. Product manager Ted Helwick said that some users may start seeing ads by the end of July, and some might not. Either way, Facebook has committed to this new ad juncture and has announced testing will expand globally.
Whether this could change depending on users' reaction seems implausible. Facebook has to put those ads somewhere, and if it can't put it in Messenger, then where? WhatsApp certainly seems like a great candidate but bear in mind that its CEO, Jan Koum, promised that the app would have "absolutely no ads interrupting your communication" when Facebook bought it in 2014.
In the tech world, though, promises often get broken. We'll see how this pans out. Perhaps Facebook can raise ad rates to generate more revenue while simultaneously refraining from maxing out its ad load. Whatever direction it takes, for users, this means more ads will come.
