KEY POINTS
- Facebook said Thursday it will begin charging for some of its WhatsApp for Organization services.
- It’s a way for the encrypted messaging platform to produce meaningful revenue from WhatsApp.
- Facebook presently relies almost completely on marketing on Facebook and Instagram to generate income.
Facebook stated Thursday it will start charging companies for some of its WhatsApp Company chat services.
WhatsApp Organization allows little and medium organizations to chat with consumers, supply assistance, and offer products directly. Facebook said it will quickly use services like hosting, to assist partners to handle chat messages with customers, inventory, and more. WhatsApp Company has more than 50 million service users and that 175 million individuals all over the world message an organization every day.
Facebook has struggled to produce significant income from WhatsApp, which is obtained for $16 billion in 2014, and primarily relies on advertising on Facebook and Instagram to generate earnings. It is among Facebook’s acquisitions that are under analysis by the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, which determined previously this month that Facebook wields monopoly power in social networking.
Facebook told CNBC it charges companies to send out particular messages to customers, like boarding passes or item receipts, but that expenses differ on the market and quantity of messages sent out. It didn’t offer information on what extra services it plans to charge for, or how much they’ll cost, just that it plans to change how it charges businesses.
Facebook said it will utilize some of the income from company sales to continue to provide free services to its more than two billion WhatsApp users.