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”.
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 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