Tangoo

Messaging Apps Have A Goal In Sight, But Out Of Reach

The article analyzes how messaging apps are evolving toward platform-like ecosystems, using WeChat as the benchmark. WeChat has 600 million monthly active users, about 100 million fewer than Facebook Messenger, and monetizes by enabling access to services and customers rather than through ads. It highlights major investments in messaging: Facebook's $22 billion purchase of WhatsApp in February 2014; Rakuten's $900 million acquisition of Viber in February 2014; and Alibaba's $250 million investment in Tango. It notes that the leading messaging apps—WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, and Viber—together surpassed the top four social networks in active users, with retention for messaging apps around 62% versus 11% on average. However, monetizing the core messenger experience remains challenging, per Kik’s Ted Livingston. Tencent’s investment in Kik signals an aim to turn chat into a broader operating system, while regional players pursue commerce-centric strategies, making a single global leader unlikely.

Kik Gets $50 Million Investment From Tencent As The Messaging App Arms Race Continues

Kik secured a $50 million investment from Tencent, the Chinese developer behind WeChat, as it aims to become the Western equivalent of WeChat and accelerate growth in the US teen market. Kik's president, Josh Jacobs, notes potential cross-pollination with Tencent's technology, including translation, IoT applications, and micropayments. The deal underscores heightened competition in messaging apps, with Kik's demographic skew showing roughly 70% of its 240 million registered users are aged 13 to 24. Tencent already holds stakes in WeChat and Kik, and the article suggests little friction between them. WeChat itself reportedly has over 600 million active monthly users and more than 1 billion total users, with limited penetration outside China and Southeast Asia.

Chartboost Is Looking To Level The Playing Field For Game Devs, Hook Up With Fyber, Heyzap

Chartboost unveiled a new set of monetization tools for game developers, led by Smartbid to track installs across media partners via third-party attribution providers such as Kochava, Adjust, TUNE and AppsFlyer. The update adds post-install analytics and publisher segmentation to Chartboost’s existing cross-promotion, analytics and ad network suite, and introduces a direct deal marketplace enabling developers to sell or buy inventory with a 90-100% revenue share. The company also announced partnerships with Heyzap and Fyber, with MoPub integration planned. Chartboost reports it serves over 200,000 mobile games and reaches more than 700 million monthly active users. Founded in 2011, Chartboost has about 120 employees across San Francisco, Amsterdam and Tokyo, with total funding of $21 million after a 2013 Series B. Tango also announced a $25 million Tango Global Games Fund to support developers; Road Riot, a Tango-backed title, has around 20 million installs.