I'm not so sure myself that FB itself will be an enduring phenomenon. The youth are now using WhatsApp to plan their get togethers and communicate with each other. It's a lot easier to set up groups and get an instant response. FB is already undermining itself with its ads as they now also appear in your news feed. People don't want unsolicited advertising, so there is a limit to how much you can put into useful content before it just become annoying FB spam. It already is. Google ads are very different, as they are relevant to what you are searching for and can even be useful. Twitter advertising is also interruptive. I don't think the increased targeting will justify the $19bn outlay. It's all very well serving your ads to the right people, but you have to do it at the right time to get any effect. FB rarely does this.
The future is this - you are standing in the middle of Southampton - you want something - you tweet/FB/WA 'god I need a coffee now '. The next advert you see will not be just 'costa' it will be 'hey there's a costa 2 minute walk from your location - and here's a 10% voucher off a cup -enjoy ' I've seen this technology it's just around the corner
Yes, targeted advertising. It's actually a good thing because you see adverts that are relevant / interesting to you, as opposed to the usual junk. Whatsap is slightly different - it's a subscription service with over 100 million users all paying £1 per year. It's Also one of the fastest growing apps out there - 100 million users on a planet of 7 billion and growing, so obviously it still has a lot of growth space. There is also the potential for it to be licensed to each platform. Right now a mobile which doesn't support whatsap would be a guaranteed failure. I do think the value placed on it was rather optimistic though, but to say it has no value and makes no money is simply naive
Try these interesting comments from Prof Robert Reich: Robert Reich: WhatsApp is everything wrong with the U.S. economy - Salon.com
That appears to be stating the blindingly obvious, and offers no solutions of any kind. For someone so eminent, I was expecting at least a couple of ideas or suggestions. It looks like a Forum Lounge post.
True, but Bob Reich has proposed many constructive solutions to many problems down the years, in his books, speeches and lectures. I used to know Bob at one time, long before he became a US Cabinet Minister and a Professor, and I liked him a lot.
An interesting read, but one glaring mistake. Whatsap is a subscription service, it offers a service in exchange for money. Working off the statement that it "doesn't make anything" neither does any lawyer, surveyor, business analyst etc. it's a service provider like thousands of other companies around the world.
the rather clever chappy who invented Whatsisappthingy (I think he's Ukrainian and mostly self taught) said he stood for no advertising and no keeping of personal metadata...and now fuckbook have bought it for the size of a small 3rd world country's national debt....mmmm.... so how many days will it take before the users start seeing adverts in their whatsisthingyapp? ... oh and the metadata Sir? Certainly, that'll be a a nice big fat cheque please Sir, of course you can buy our metadata Sir.... Never use fuckbook and only use Google because it's the best search engine....and I've been in the business for more than two decades...when will it ever stop...or at least slow down - bring back DOS 3.2, what was ever wrong with a good old operating system and 56Kb modems?!....
Sure, but do the maths. Whatsapp currently has 450m subscribers. Not to be sneezed at. Lets suppose that that gets to 1bn. The people will all have to contribute $19, assuming no overhead at all (there can't be that much) each, to get the money back. Apple take 30% odd, so it's more like $30, assuming, as mentioned, that the consumer base doubles. It might pay back, but it's a big punt for $19bn. You'd normally want more certainty than that. But then internet business has always been predicated on more hot air than a balloon.
