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TECHNOLOGY Thursday 27 July 2017
Facebook’s ads just keep creeping into new apps

By BARBARA ORTUTAY ago. With its popularity outside
AP Technology Writer Revenue for the three the U.S. and in developing
NEW YORK (AP) — Scrolling months that ended on June countries, WhatsApp might
through an ad-free Insta- 30 rose 45 percent to $9.32 be a harder nut to crack
gram is now a distant mem- billion from $6.44 billion. when it comes to ads. But
ory, much like the once ad- The Menlo Park, California- there are signs it’s coming.
free Facebook itself. Soon, based company’s monthly It’s true that WhatsApp’s
users of its Messenger app active user base grew 17 CEO Jan Koum promised
will begin to see advertise- percent to 2.01 billion. users they can count on
ments, too — and What- INSTAGRAM “absolutely no ads inter-
sApp may not be too far Ads began arriving on Ins- rupting your communi-
behind. tagram, which Facebook cation” when Facebook
Welcome to the Facebook bought in 2012 for $1 billion, bought the company in
ad creep. in 2013. It was a slow and 2014 for $19 billion.
The world’s biggest so- careful rollout, and tells us a But last August, What-
cial media company has lot about Facebook’s sub- sApp updated its privacy
squeezed about as many sequent ad strategy. This Feb. 19, 2014, file photo, shows WhatsApp and Facebook policy to reflect that the
app icons on a smartphone in New York.
ads onto its main platform The company didn’t want service would be sharing
as it can. The fancy term to upset Instagram’s loyal user data with Facebook
for this is “ad load,” and fans, who were used to likely to see generic ads users will start seeing ads by so that it could “offer bet-
Facebook warned inves- scrolling through beauti- not specifically created for the end of July. The com- ter friend suggestions” and
tors back in 2016 that it ful landscapes, stylized Instagram. pany will then study that “show you more relevant
has pretty much maxed breakfast shots and well- By this point, though, peo- limited rollout to ensure ads” on Facebook and its
it out . Put any more ads groomed kittens in their ple seem to have gotten that it’s delivering “the best other properties.
in front of users and they feed. An ad for headache used to them. experience.” That doesn’t mean that
might start complaining — pills would have interrupt- MESSENGER Of course, even a small ads will appear on What-
or worse, just leave. ed the flow. So Instagram Facebook has already percentage of 1.2 billion sApp right away. But in the
As such, Facebook, a free started off with just a few been testing ads on its pri- users could be tens of mil- same post, the company
service that relies almost ads it considered “beauti- mary chat app, and earlier lions of people. But this also said it wants people
completely on ads to make ful,” selected from hand- this month it announced it gives Facebook a chance to be able to communi-
money, has to keep finding picked businesses. For a will expand this test global- to see what works and cate with businesses, not
new and creative ways to while, CEO Kevin Systrom ly. Paralleling its experience what doesn’t without mass just people. That’s exactly
let businesses hawk their reviewed every ad before with Instagram, Facebook revolt. how Messenger began
stuff on its properties. it went live. told developers and busi- And it highlights the im- dabbling in the advertising
One solution is to spread Four years later, things have nesses they can start show- portance of Facebook’s business.
ads beyond Facebook it- changed a bit, although to ing ads — specifically for decision to spin out the What else can Facebook
self, onto the other popu- Instagram’s credit, not so brands that people “love” Messenger app from its do?
lar messaging and photo- much as to alienate sig- or that offer an “opportuni- main Facebook app (and “One, they will raise their
sharing apps it owns. nificant numbers of its 700 ty to discover experiences” to start pressuring people rates on ads,” said Matt
So far, it’s working. On million users (up from 100 — to Messenger’s 1.2 billion to use it ). While Facebook Britton, CEO of social me-
Wednesday, Facebook million in 2013). There are users. billed its decision as a way dia marketing company
posted a 71 percent in- more ads now, Systrom no A tsunami it won’t be. to make Messenger easier CrowdTap. “Because they
crease in net income to longer inspects them be- Facebook product man- to use, it also essentially can. The value is tremen-
$3.89 billion, or $1.32 per fore publication, and while ager Ted Helwick wrote in doubled the available real dous for advertisers right
share, from $2.28 billion, or many could still be called a blog post that a “small estate for its mobile ads. now, including for video
78 cents a share, a year “beautiful,” users are also percentage” of Messenger WHATSAPP AND MORE ads.”q

At hacker summit, a new focus on preventing brazen attacks

By MATT O’BRIEN, in Las Vegas, follows a se- much once a week.” digital hygiene — over the and male, and generally
AP Technology Writer ries of attacks and data Stamos called for a cul- thrilling hunt for undiscov- showing more empathy for
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Against breaches that have para- ture change among hack- ered vulnerabilities. And he the people whom security
a backdrop of cyberat- lyzed hospitals, disrupted ers and more emphasis called for diversifying an professionals are tasked to
tacks that have grown commerce, caused black- on defense — and basic industry that skews white protect.
into full-fledged sabo- outs and interfered with “It’s unfair for us to say that
tage, Facebook chief se- national elections. users should be better,”
curity officer Alex Stamos Stamos joined Facebook said Stamos, challenging
brought a sobering mes- from Yahoo, which last his profession to find better
sage Wednesday to hack- year disclosed breaches of ways to help people solve
ers and security experts at more than a billion user ac- the most common vulner-
the Black Hat conference. counts . abilities, such as reuse of
In short: it’s time for hackers “People now know how im- passwords , email phishing
once known for relatively portant it is to build secure attempts , and not updat-
harmless mischief to shoul- systems to underlie our civi- ing devices to patch bugs.
der responsibility for help- lization,” Stamos said at a Black Hat has matured
ing detect and prevent keynote speech. “A topic since what Stamos, a long-
major attacks that threat- that was once considered time attendee of the com-
en billions of internet users fringe, a topic that we had In this photo taken Friday, June 8, 2012 Alex Stamos CTO of puter security conference,
around the world. to fight for respect for, is Artemis Internet, an NCC Group Company, poses by a domain described as its “edgy and
The Black Hat security gath- now on the front page of name poster at their offices in San Francisco. transgressive” early days.
ering, happening this week every newspaper pretty Associated Press q