10 ms·

Rumor: Google negotiating $1 billion acquisition of WhatsApp

61 points by dll 14y ago

recuter 14y ago
Sometimes the mind boggles how companies like Google or Apple with its iMessages, who have all the ducks in a row, are so slow to capitalize on these things. WhatsApp and most clones are pretty terrible, it is used solely because of network effects. But apparently two years is quick enough to reach escape velocity and lock it in. They are likely to get that billion.
- kashif 14y ago
  You should try Talk.to - http://talk.to http://talk.to Disclaimer: I am the lead dev for the android product.
  - thejosh 14y ago
    Classy
    - ronilan 14y ago
      Relentless.
  - delano 14y ago
    The line between being helping and selling is ambiguous. My hunch is that you're being downvoted because recuter didn't state a specific need, just that "most clones are pretty terrible".
    - kashif 14y ago
      I was trying to say that we are trying not to be terrible :) PS: I couldn't give a rats ass about the votes.
  - chmars 14y ago
    Why should I try Talk.to? Your website does not speak for itself IMHO …
- joelhaasnoot 14y ago
  While they are terrible in so many ways - it just works. Google Talk just plain doesn't work with the latency and read notifciations. I manage an large piece of software with a GUI that runs on a locked down Linux workstation. WhatsApp is how I get "screenshots" of problems.
- shawabawa3 14y ago
  Why exactly is WhatsApp terrible? I've been using it for about 6months and it works perfectly. Low memory usage, low disk space usage, low cpu usage, messages go through instantly and reliably. What more do you want in a messaging app?
  - FreeKill 14y ago
    A desktop version as well, so I can use a single platform for all my messaging.
  - ch0wn 14y ago
    Since their latest big update, the app on Android is quite good. They do, however, have a horrible security track record and I'm not sure what the current state of their authentication system is.
  - pmelendez 14y ago
    "low cpu usage" This is not true on all the platforms. For instance, in my experience I found it that blackberry's and android's versions are quite good. But iOS version (on a 3G) and Windows Phone 8 version are very cpu demanding which result in draining the battery pretty quickly. WPH8 is the worse, although it is probably because a limitation of the OS (they had to had the audio sdk in order to make notifications work).
  - andor 14y ago
    There are some technical reasons, such as that the encryption is broken, the protocol isn't open and they have everybody's address books. Also, you can only use it from your phone. But (apart from the address book issue maybe) most people don't care about that. Usability-wise I like it more than Google's IM clients. Since I pay for the service, I trust them more than I trust Google, which is an advertisement company after all. I'd much prefer it if everybody used XMPP, but unfortunately that's not the case.
    - omonra 14y ago
      As a user of the app, I don't care about any of them. As far as I see it - it's perfect. For example - them having my addressbook means that I don't have to set up any contacts. While I wish there was a desktop service, its lack is just that - something I wish existed. I think a more precise way to describe it is "I disagree with certain technical solutions they chose".
- anizan 14y ago
  Its not just the network effects but direct access to phone numbers and contact book cross platform. so think of it like network*network.
Mahn 14y ago
That would make for a very nice middle finger to Facebook if they pull this off (allegedly they attempted to acquire WhatsApp before) But $1 billion? I'm not sure if that evaluation is entirely justified. It has a pretty large user base, granted, but there's practically nothing that warrants people will continue using it in the next 5 years.
- sthkr 14y ago
  It probably isn't just like Instagram wasn't but companies like WhatsApp like to play hard ball and negotiate higher bids because they know they're in demand and Google would rather overpay to gain an advantage then starting from scratch. Google talk isn't used much!
- rubyrescue 14y ago
  Outside of the US WhatsApp rules with an iron fist. Every non-tech person I know uses it. I hear it dropped in casual conversation at the table next to me in restaurants. It's got a public mindshare greater than Skype. And once all your friends are on it, it's not so easy to switch.
  - loceng 14y ago
    I use it to regularly connect with my good friend who's in Hong Kong; He was the one who first used it and got me to download it.
  - JOfferijns 14y ago
    I can definitely confirm this, at least in The Netherlands literally everybody uses Whatsapp and it has slowly become a verb - "I'll whatsapp you the details!". It's far from the best messaging app, but definitely the most popular (in Europe).
    - soneca 14y ago
      In Brazil here, my girlfriend literally bought a new phone, a low-budget android, just to talk with her best friends through Whatsapp.
justhw 14y ago
Anybody think WhatsApp will still be here in a year or two?
- nobodyshere 14y ago
  If google acquires them, they won't be there as WhatsApp anymore. Probably a better integration of gtalk is to be expected 'soon'.
- Havoc 14y ago
  Definitely. Its a really powerful force in 3rd world countries. Here is ZA they cornered the market completely. Unless they screw it up themselves they aren't going to lose that head start. Not with the kind of network effects at play here.
  - ubershmekel 14y ago
    ZA = South Africa?
    - atlbeer 14y ago
      Yes
- joelhaasnoot 14y ago
  While they own the market - not sure they can get people to actually pay for the product. Not sure they can afford to give it away free.
  - eitland 14y ago
    One year free, then 1 usd a year and promise of no ads: they are here to make a healthy revenue on a great messaging solution. It's brilliantly done (-some security issues) and I happily pay a dollar a year for it.
    - joelhaasnoot 14y ago
rubyrescue 14y ago
To take the code focus for a second, this would be a great win for Erlang in that it would put a very high-profile Erlang powered app inside Google.
QuantumDoja 14y ago
I really thought Skype would snap this one up.
- Mahn 14y ago
  You mean Microsoft? Skype belongs to them for quite some time now. Edit: Not sure why the downvote, Skype does belong to Microsoft, and for Skype to go after WhatsApp now would mean Microsoft has to actively pursue it, which given their track record of acquisitions seems a bit unlikely as opposed to Skype independently doing acquisitions.
kevinwdavid 14y ago
google would buy http://mightytext.net/ http://mightytext.net/ - iMessage for android founders by ex-googlers.
skrebbel 14y ago
It makes sense, but would be horrible for consumers. Google reading every instant message i send? Brr, please not.
- LockeWatts 14y ago
  You think your messages aren't already being read? That seems a bit naive.
signa11 14y ago
here is the erlang factory talk by one of the lead developers of whatsapp : http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/SFBay2012/speakers/RickReed http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/SFBay2012/speakers/...
mtgx 14y ago
Well if they can't buy whatsapp because they are asking for too much, they should buy LINE or whoever is next in line (no pun intended) with the biggest network of users, and is still growing fast. The strategy of buying one of these companies out to catch-up to iMessage in user base (not counting Gtalk users) is a sound one. But whoever it's going to be and whatever Google is going to use, can we get OTR encryption enabled by default in there? Google doesn't need to have access to people's private conversations after all - right?
badclient 14y ago
Samsung is insane for not acquiring WhatsApp.
- mtgx 14y ago
  I'd rather it remained a cross Android/iOS app (the right strategy, too, here) than a "Samsung-only" app like ChatON, which "nobody" uses.
- notatoad 14y ago
  i don't see how it makes any sense for samsung. they're a hardware company, and the only way an app drives hardware sales is if it is exclusive. if you make whatsapp exclusive to samsung devices, you take away all of its value.
  - badclient 14y ago
    They don't have to make it exclusive to Samsung but they can build it into their version of Android. It gives them a leg up to iMessage since iMessage is apple-only.
gjulianm 14y ago
I don't think this should be on the front page. It's a rumor, citing "sources". It's not credible, even less when they cite Google Babble as a rumor. For those who don't know, Babble was a fake made by a spanish forum called Forocoches [1] [2] [1] http://www.adslzone.net/article11194-google-babble-rumor-originado-en-forocoches-traspasa-fronteras.html http://www.adslzone.net/article11194-google-babble-rumor-ori... (spanish) [2] http://www.androidauthority.com/leaked-google-babble-screenshots-fake-app-not-called-babble-source-says-176622/ http://www.androidauthority.com/leaked-google-babble-screens...
maguay 14y ago
Congrats Google: you're trying to buy an app as its going down. Practically everyone in Asia has switched to Line, and WhatsApp is definitely not what it was last year.
pmelendez 14y ago
This scary me a little bit. Most of my friends have Whatsapp across different platforms and it would be a shame to find out that Google would shutdown the project in favor of GTalk
applecore 14y ago
How would they reconcile a Google acquisition with why they don’t sell ads? http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2012/06/why-we-dont-sell-ads/ http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2012/06/why-we-dont-sell-...
pasbesoin 14y ago
These valuations are just absurd. Shades of a decade ago.
intopieces 14y ago
Would this acquisition just serve to take it out of the market? Google already has a text-messaging (a better one) with Google Voice. I ditched my $20/month texting plan a few months back and have been quite pleased, especially with my ability to open my texts in a browser and use a physical keyboard. Granted, the privacy is completely nonexistant; my texts might as well be on my facebook wall. But that doesn't really bother me.

61 points by dll 14y ago

Sometimes the mind boggles how companies like Google or Apple with its iMessages, who have all the ducks in a row, are so slow to capitalize on these things. WhatsApp and most clones are pretty terrible, it is used solely because of network effects. But apparently two years is quick enough to reach escape velocity and lock it in. They are likely to get that billion.

kashif 14y ago
You should try Talk.to - http://talk.to http://talk.to Disclaimer: I am the lead dev for the android product.
- thejosh 14y ago
  Classy
  - ronilan 14y ago
    Relentless.
- delano 14y ago
  The line between being helping and selling is ambiguous. My hunch is that you're being downvoted because recuter didn't state a specific need, just that "most clones are pretty terrible".
  - kashif 14y ago
    I was trying to say that we are trying not to be terrible :) PS: I couldn't give a rats ass about the votes.
- chmars 14y ago
  Why should I try Talk.to? Your website does not speak for itself IMHO …
joelhaasnoot 14y ago
While they are terrible in so many ways - it just works. Google Talk just plain doesn't work with the latency and read notifciations. I manage an large piece of software with a GUI that runs on a locked down Linux workstation. WhatsApp is how I get "screenshots" of problems.
shawabawa3 14y ago
Why exactly is WhatsApp terrible? I've been using it for about 6months and it works perfectly. Low memory usage, low disk space usage, low cpu usage, messages go through instantly and reliably. What more do you want in a messaging app?
- FreeKill 14y ago
  A desktop version as well, so I can use a single platform for all my messaging.
- ch0wn 14y ago
  Since their latest big update, the app on Android is quite good. They do, however, have a horrible security track record and I'm not sure what the current state of their authentication system is.
- pmelendez 14y ago
  "low cpu usage" This is not true on all the platforms. For instance, in my experience I found it that blackberry's and android's versions are quite good. But iOS version (on a 3G) and Windows Phone 8 version are very cpu demanding which result in draining the battery pretty quickly. WPH8 is the worse, although it is probably because a limitation of the OS (they had to had the audio sdk in order to make notifications work).
- andor 14y ago
  There are some technical reasons, such as that the encryption is broken, the protocol isn't open and they have everybody's address books. Also, you can only use it from your phone. But (apart from the address book issue maybe) most people don't care about that. Usability-wise I like it more than Google's IM clients. Since I pay for the service, I trust them more than I trust Google, which is an advertisement company after all. I'd much prefer it if everybody used XMPP, but unfortunately that's not the case.
  - omonra 14y ago
    As a user of the app, I don't care about any of them. As far as I see it - it's perfect. For example - them having my addressbook means that I don't have to set up any contacts. While I wish there was a desktop service, its lack is just that - something I wish existed. I think a more precise way to describe it is "I disagree with certain technical solutions they chose".
anizan 14y ago
Its not just the network effects but direct access to phone numbers and contact book cross platform. so think of it like network*network.

Mahn 14y ago

That would make for a very nice middle finger to Facebook if they pull this off (allegedly they attempted to acquire WhatsApp before) But $1 billion? I'm not sure if that evaluation is entirely justified. It has a pretty large user base, granted, but there's practically nothing that warrants people will continue using it in the next 5 years.

sthkr 14y ago
It probably isn't just like Instagram wasn't but companies like WhatsApp like to play hard ball and negotiate higher bids because they know they're in demand and Google would rather overpay to gain an advantage then starting from scratch. Google talk isn't used much!
rubyrescue 14y ago
Outside of the US WhatsApp rules with an iron fist. Every non-tech person I know uses it. I hear it dropped in casual conversation at the table next to me in restaurants. It's got a public mindshare greater than Skype. And once all your friends are on it, it's not so easy to switch.
- loceng 14y ago
  I use it to regularly connect with my good friend who's in Hong Kong; He was the one who first used it and got me to download it.
- JOfferijns 14y ago
  I can definitely confirm this, at least in The Netherlands literally everybody uses Whatsapp and it has slowly become a verb - "I'll whatsapp you the details!". It's far from the best messaging app, but definitely the most popular (in Europe).
  - soneca 14y ago
    In Brazil here, my girlfriend literally bought a new phone, a low-budget android, just to talk with her best friends through Whatsapp.

justhw 14y ago

Anybody think WhatsApp will still be here in a year or two?

nobodyshere 14y ago
If google acquires them, they won't be there as WhatsApp anymore. Probably a better integration of gtalk is to be expected 'soon'.
Havoc 14y ago
Definitely. Its a really powerful force in 3rd world countries. Here is ZA they cornered the market completely. Unless they screw it up themselves they aren't going to lose that head start. Not with the kind of network effects at play here.
- ubershmekel 14y ago
  ZA = South Africa?
  - atlbeer 14y ago
    Yes
joelhaasnoot 14y ago
While they own the market - not sure they can get people to actually pay for the product. Not sure they can afford to give it away free.
- eitland 14y ago
  One year free, then 1 usd a year and promise of no ads: they are here to make a healthy revenue on a great messaging solution. It's brilliantly done (-some security issues) and I happily pay a dollar a year for it.
  - joelhaasnoot 14y ago

rubyrescue 14y ago

To take the code focus for a second, this would be a great win for Erlang in that it would put a very high-profile Erlang powered app inside Google.

QuantumDoja 14y ago

I really thought Skype would snap this one up.

Mahn 14y ago
You mean Microsoft? Skype belongs to them for quite some time now. Edit: Not sure why the downvote, Skype does belong to Microsoft, and for Skype to go after WhatsApp now would mean Microsoft has to actively pursue it, which given their track record of acquisitions seems a bit unlikely as opposed to Skype independently doing acquisitions.

kevinwdavid 14y ago

google would buy http://mightytext.net/ http://mightytext.net/ - iMessage for android founders by ex-googlers.

skrebbel 14y ago

It makes sense, but would be horrible for consumers. Google reading every instant message i send? Brr, please not.

LockeWatts 14y ago
You think your messages aren't already being read? That seems a bit naive.

signa11 14y ago

here is the erlang factory talk by one of the lead developers of whatsapp : http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/SFBay2012/speakers/RickReed http://www.erlang-factory.com/conference/SFBay2012/speakers/...

mtgx 14y ago

Well if they can't buy whatsapp because they are asking for too much, they should buy LINE or whoever is next in line (no pun intended) with the biggest network of users, and is still growing fast. The strategy of buying one of these companies out to catch-up to iMessage in user base (not counting Gtalk users) is a sound one. But whoever it's going to be and whatever Google is going to use, can we get OTR encryption enabled by default in there? Google doesn't need to have access to people's private conversations after all - right?

badclient 14y ago

Samsung is insane for not acquiring WhatsApp.

mtgx 14y ago
I'd rather it remained a cross Android/iOS app (the right strategy, too, here) than a "Samsung-only" app like ChatON, which "nobody" uses.
notatoad 14y ago
i don't see how it makes any sense for samsung. they're a hardware company, and the only way an app drives hardware sales is if it is exclusive. if you make whatsapp exclusive to samsung devices, you take away all of its value.
- badclient 14y ago
  They don't have to make it exclusive to Samsung but they can build it into their version of Android. It gives them a leg up to iMessage since iMessage is apple-only.

gjulianm 14y ago

I don't think this should be on the front page. It's a rumor, citing "sources". It's not credible, even less when they cite Google Babble as a rumor. For those who don't know, Babble was a fake made by a spanish forum called Forocoches [1] [2] [1] http://www.adslzone.net/article11194-google-babble-rumor-originado-en-forocoches-traspasa-fronteras.html http://www.adslzone.net/article11194-google-babble-rumor-ori... (spanish) [2] http://www.androidauthority.com/leaked-google-babble-screenshots-fake-app-not-called-babble-source-says-176622/ http://www.androidauthority.com/leaked-google-babble-screens...

maguay 14y ago

Congrats Google: you're trying to buy an app as its going down. Practically everyone in Asia has switched to Line, and WhatsApp is definitely not what it was last year.

pmelendez 14y ago

This scary me a little bit. Most of my friends have Whatsapp across different platforms and it would be a shame to find out that Google would shutdown the project in favor of GTalk

applecore 14y ago

How would they reconcile a Google acquisition with why they don’t sell ads? http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2012/06/why-we-dont-sell-ads/ http://blog.whatsapp.com/index.php/2012/06/why-we-dont-sell-...

pasbesoin 14y ago

These valuations are just absurd. Shades of a decade ago.

intopieces 14y ago

Would this acquisition just serve to take it out of the market? Google already has a text-messaging (a better one) with Google Voice. I ditched my $20/month texting plan a few months back and have been quite pleased, especially with my ability to open my texts in a browser and use a physical keyboard. Granted, the privacy is completely nonexistant; my texts might as well be on my facebook wall. But that doesn't really bother me.