We recently published an article covering how Instagram makes money despite making the app accessible for everyone; this article will also focus on how WhatsApp makes money.
WhatsApp is also one of the most popular messaging apps globally; it is currently even the most used messaging app. But the app is free to us, you know why?
And why will someone create an app, hire developers, bring updates when it does not profit from it?
This should tell you that WhatsApp makes money from the messaging app, and in this article, we will take you through how Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, makes money from the app.
In technology, some companies and technological products do not need any introduction due to their fame and wide usage.
If you read our latest article on Telegram, you would see that we discussed how Telegram acquired its revenue. So in today’s article, we will be looking at how Telegram’s biggest rival, WhatsApp, also makes its revenue.
History Of WhatsApp
WhatsApp was created by two men, namely Jan Koum and Brian Acton, in the early part of 2009.
The app was initially a status updater, which was how it got its name ‘WhatsApp. However, it was later updated to WhatsApp 2.0 and became an instant messaging app. The app was later acquired by Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, known as Meta, for $19 billion in 2014 and came under the Facebook wing.
Jan Koum is now one of the board members of Facebook following the acquisition of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp now sees more than a billion active users worldwide, which means that the app is making serious money.
How WhatsApp Acquires Its Revenue
Since WhatsApp does not sell ads like most apps do to make money, there has to be another way to make money.
After all, the people involved in the creation of the app are now billionaires. WhatsApp was created to resist ads from the beginning, which has continued to today.
Selling ads on the app would have made it annoying to use, affecting its patronage. The app’s initial funding source was $250 thousand, which was put up by five people who are now co-owners of the app.
It was then funded with $60 million from Sequoia Capital in 2011 and 2013. The direct cost of WhatsApp in those days was the verification code it had to send people who were logging on to the app.
Whatsapp’s primary source of revenue is through the WhatsApp Business app, and this is a WhatsApp app used by businesses to interact with their customers.
Businesses can link it to their websites. However, a company can only respond to customers who contact them. This was done to prevent spam messages.
WhatsApp makes money through this app by charging businesses that fail to reply to customers on time.
The businesses will be required to pay a fee for each message they send after the designated reply time has passed. They can also reply through their tools and not through WhatsApp business.
Whatsapp Payments
Whatsapp has also introduced a P2P payment option for Indian users, which is set to boost the app’s position in the Indian digital market.
This is the preferred application for most Indians when sending money. And also another way through WhatsApp to make money.
Conclusion
We also have more WhatsApp tutorials. You can check out how to know if someone has saved your number and how to make new friends on WhatsApp.
Do you know you can message someone without having to store their number first? Click here to read how to message someone without saving the number first.
Do you know there are many strategies to make money on Youtube? click here to read our guide on making money online on Youtube.
