Weekly Review

23/04/15
GroupM Insight brings you the key stories
from the world of media research and tech
this week

Facebooks Internet.org challenged while WhatsApp triumphs

Facebooks Internet.org under fire
In a whitepaper released in August
2013, Mark Zuckerberg launched
Internet.org, a project with the aim of
providing internet access to poorer
parts of the world. According to
Zuckerberg connectivity is a human
right and if we work together we can
make it a reality. Eight countries
including Zambia, Kenya and Colombia
have thus far been involved with
millions of people now having access to
the internet. So it is clear that since its
inception internet.org has had a
positive impact

2/3 of the world is not

connected to the internet

Source - Internet.org

However, Facebooks motives have

continuously been questioned with
one headline in the US Finance Post
claiming there was nothing altruistic
about Facebooks initiative to spread
the internet. It is also worth noting
that Facebook is a publicly listed
company with the fundamental aim of
growing market share. Critics have
suggested the service is going against
the principle of net neutrality which
calls for all online content to be treated
equally. The debate has gathered
momentum, especially in India due to
a practice known as zero rating. This
makes certain online services available
for people to use without incurring

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data charges. Several major Indian

companies have either criticised or
withdrew from this part of the project
further fuelling the debate.
Though it is worth noting Facebook is
not alone in claiming net neutrality can
be compatible with zero rating.
Wikipedia runs a zero rating
programme in more than 60 countries
while a Brooks Institution report
concluded that zero rating was one of
the best ways to widen internet access
in poorer parts of the world. There is
evidence that zero rating can mitigate
the digital divide according to Darrell
West, the author of the report.
Facebook aims to connect to 100
countries within the next year,
however, its future is largely
dependent on the carriers which
provide the infrastructure. If the
criticism gathers momentum, the
future ambitions of Internet.org could
fail to be realised.

Everyone deserves to be
connected

Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook

WhatsApp hits 800 million

active users
The messaging app has almost
doubled its user base since Facebook
purchased the app in February 2014,
when it had 450 million active users.
WhatsApp now has more users than
any other similar messaging app.

WhatsApp now serving

800,000,000 monthly active
users. Reminder for the press out
there: active and registered are
not the same thing
Jan Koum
WhatsApp

If it continues to grow at this speed,

WhatsApp may hit 1 billion users later
this year, 6 years after launch.
Facebook took 8 years to reach this
level, and now has around 1.4 billion
active users. For WhatsApp, 1 billion
users is the level that Mark Zuckerberg,
Facebooks CEO, previously mentioned
that he would expect the messaging
app to contribute to Facebooks bottom
line. This may mean WhatsApp has to
rethink its No ads, no games, no
gimmicks motto and consider
opportunities to use its ever-growing
user base for marketing.

Active app users

Facebook

1.4 billion
Facebook Messenger

600 million

WhatsApp

800 million
Source - Wall Street Journal

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Sources - Is Connectivity A Human Right?

Mark Zuckerberg, US Finance Post, The
Brookings Institution, Technologyreview.com,
Learnbonds.com, AdWeek, Wall Street Journal,
Tech Crunch, Wired