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To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (166163)	2/20/2014 12:53:51 PM
From: Ryan Bartholomew	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213185

WhatsApp doesn't push advertising. You're correct, Facebook wants it for their user base, as their own user growth is slowing. WhatsApp is another messaging platform, but it's useful in that it allows you to bypass telco charges by relying upon data. It's especially useful for international communication on the cheap. And it unifies things in a simple interface. The reason the market isn't liking FB's acquisition is that, for them to make money off it, they'll have to undo the primary reasons it is so popular. It's not something easy to monetize... users don't mean much if you can't make money from them. That article someone posted that said FB's acquisition of WhatsApp has something to do with Apple is incorrect. Yes, FB would like to have its own OS like Google and Apple, but they aren't "reacting" with this purchase. It's likely driven by nothing more than a desire to pick up a ton of users from a widely loved and used app.

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (166163)	2/20/2014 1:09:29 PM
From: Kelly G.	3 Recommendations Recommended By MGV Mick Mørmøny Zen Dollar Round Respond to of 213185

The big deal about WhatsApp is the number of users. The company that makes these has a lot of users as well: And, they at least make money on the sale of the product and have a certain number of repeat customers. OTOH, there a ton of free text messaging apps out there and I don't see how these people would be loyal if it started costing them. Driving people to Facebook? Maybe. It would interesting to see how many people use WhatsApp that don't already have Facebook. Part of what I thought was bizarre was ANALysts saying the Apple should have bought WhatsApp. What are these guys smoking? I still think that a $19 billion price tag is really bizarre for a texting app.