WhatsApp to send adverts to users

It was only a matter of time before WhatApp would start sending marketing messages to its users. Since it was bought by Facebook in 2014, it has begun sharing data, and thus changed its privacy policy for the first time. In due course, companies and brands will be able to advertise and send messages.

WhatsApp will now share users' phone numbers with Facebook, which it will use to provide "more relevant" friend suggestions and advertisements. WhatsApp said sharing users' phone numbers with Facebook would help tackle spam and abuse, as well as offer people "better friend suggestions and more relevant ads".

WhatsApp is already exchanging data and phone numbers with Facebook

Using the data, Facebook will be able to match people who have exchanged phone numbers, but have not added one another as "friends" on the social network.

WhatsApp will also share information about when people last used the service, but said it would not share the contents of messages, which are encrypted, according to the BBC.

"Your encrypted messages stay private and no-one else can read them. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else," the company said in a blogpost.

The company suggested messages typically sent via SMS text message - such as airline flight alerts or bank balance updates - could be sent via WhatsApp instead. In addition it would also allow "marketing" messages: "Messages you may receive containing marketing could include an offer for something that might interest you," the company said.

The company said it would test such messaging features in the coming months, but promised to avoid a "spammy experience" where people are inundated with ads, and said it would not display so-called banner ads in its app.

WhatsApp could soon be a content driven app

WhatsApp could soon find itself to become a more content driven app, such as China's WeChat. If it's users will be open to its new marketing policy remains to be seen.

WhatsApp has over one billion monthly users, and has overtaken FaceBook's messenger app which sees 800 million users per month.

Brands have been finding novel ways of communicating with WhatsApp users. Many luxury stores, for example, communicate with their clients over WhatsApp, to inform them when new products are available in-store or to use it as a courtesy and extension of a personal shopping experience. British shoe brand Clarks Originals used WhatsApp to bring to life the history of its Desert boot. As part of its digital campaign ‘From Rats to Rudeboys,' the company introduced WhatsApp users to characters from three countercultures – The Mod, The Enraged and The Rudeboys. Each character explained how they had incorporated the shoe into their own style and users could add them on WhatsApp and receive their updates.

Earlier this year WhatsApp ruled out introducing third-party ads, but this seems to no longer be relevant. In a blogpost the company stated: "Naturally, people might wonder how we plan to keep WhatsApp running without subscription fees and if today's announcement means we're introducing third-party ads. The answer is no."

Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWhatsApp_chatting.jpg

Source:Santeri Viinamäki [CC BY-SA 4.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons