Facebook is making a big move to acquire messaging platform WhatsApp in a deal that will cost the social network around $19 billion in cash and stock. The deal, which is expected to close in the next few months, could give Facebook a huge boost in international mobile messaging, as it looks to compete with Viber, Rakuten and Kik.
WhatsApp is a major competitor to Facebook in Europe, where it has users across a hundred countries with a million new signups each day. Moreover, its business-focused service WhatsApp For Business is well on its way to monetization.
Businesses are increasingly turning to digital channels to interact with customers, and WhatsApp is now expanding its range of features to help them do so. Among the most interesting are new ways to share QR codes (see image below) that let users quickly connect with a business on the platform; and a “we’re open for business” sticker kit that businesses can use on their website.
The app also has a new call link feature that allows users to easily create a link to video calls, and share them with friends or family who don’t have WhatsApp installed. The company says the link will expire after 90 days, and if it’s sent to someone who doesn’t have WhatsApp, they’ll be redirected to download it.
Using a phone number on WhatsApp has always been a little bit of a headache for many business owners, so WhatsApp has added a new feature to make it easier for them to set up their own numbers that they can assign to their employees. This will allow them to create a business-oriented phone number, and then use it for everything from customer support to messaging to bookings and more.
WhatsApp has also made changes to its privacy terms, stating that it would no longer share group chat data with Facebook unless the user gave it permission to do so. It also said that it will now notify users when data is being used by third parties, and that it will provide users with detailed information about how the company uses their information.
This is a big deal for Facebook, which needs to make a lot of good PR right now with all the scandals that have been swirling around its platforms in recent months. It’s one of the reasons that it was so keen to acquire WhatsApp in the first place, as well as a key reason that it was able to get the approval of regulators in the U.S.
In Germany, the country’s data protection commissioner is already urging WhatsApp users to switch over to another service. The Facebook-owned platform has been criticized for its sweeping changes to the way it collects and uses data, and the commissioner is worried that they will lead to “significant risks” for WhatsApp’s users.
But while it’s a big question, the commissioner isn’t putting the blame on Facebook itself: He simply believes that WhatsApp should be more transparent and explain to users why the changes are happening. That’s a standard that the Facebook-owned social network has often eschewed, largely in order to avoid the ire of privacy advocates.
