Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the social networking company does not have any near-term plans to make money off of WhatsApp, the mobile messaging platform it recently acquired. According to Reuters, Zuckerberg made the comments while visiting India to participate in an event to boost Internet usage, and did not give further details. WhatsApp, an over-the-top messaging app, is more popular in emerging markets than the United States, and it is free to download and use for the first year. After that, users can purchase access to the service for $1 per year.
However, another popular messaging app, Snapchat, does plan to make money by launching ads. Snapchat will "soon" debut its first ads, according to CEO Evan Spiegel. Speaking at Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, he said that the ad messages will appear within the app's Snapchat Stories feature, in between the photos and videos shared by users, and will not be targeted to individual users based on their tastes.
"We're cutting through a lot of the new technology stuff around ads to sort of the core of it, which I think has always been telling a story that leaves people with a new feeling," Spiegel said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "They're not fancy. You just look at it if you want to look at it, and you don't if you don't." Article (sub. req.)