How Does WhatsApp Earn Money Think once, how many messages do you send on the social network WhatsApp? You know, they can be done for free. All messages you send are encrypted. Only the recipient and the sender can see the message. Even WhatsApp itself cannot read the message you sent.
Also, you can find messages from a few years ago in a moment. For this, WhatsApp uses powerful computers. And WhatsApp uses data centres located in different locations around the world to keep your messages safe.
Now, to put it in simple language, WhatsApp’s operating cost is not cheap. But you don’t have to pay any fee to send messages through WhatsApp—it is free. And this is how three billion people around the world are using WhatsApp.
So how is WhatsApp making money?
WhatsApp is a business. Behind it is a company called Meta. This is the same company that also runs Facebook and Instagram. Being free in business is also a strategy. And it is important to have a framework for business to run.
Other messaging platforms that provide the same service as WhatsApp have different business models. WhatsApp has made personal accounts free. Because of this, WhatsApp takes money from institutional customers (corporate customers). And institutional customers communicate with users who are using personal accounts to grow their business.
Similarly, in some cities, you can buy bus tickets and select your seat through WhatsApp. An example of this is Bangalore, India.
In this way, it seems that WhatsApp is trying to facilitate business between businessmen and customers through chat threads as much as possible. This means enabling booking tickets, returning goods, and making payments without leaving the app. Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s Vice President of Business Messaging, told the BBC.
Other messaging platforms have taken a different approach. Signal, which is well-regarded in terms of security, says that it has never taken money from investors. But on the other hand, Telegram depends on investors.
Discord, which is used by many young gamers, does not have a fee to open an account. But after opening an account, you have to pay a fee to use other features. Snapchat, on the other hand, follows a different model. It includes ads to paid users.
Thus, different platforms have adopted their own sources of income. But most messaging platforms make money by showing ads to users and learning who they talk to and what they do. Remember, you are the product if you are not paying to run the app.
Thus, overall, WhatsApp earns by adopting models like WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp Channel, and Click to WhatsApp Ads.