4 things you might not know about Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp

By now you’ll have heard that Facebook have agreed to buy WhatsApp for $19bn (£11bn), thereby giving them access (in one way or another) to a dedicated user base of 450 million people. Here’s what you may not have heard…

1. WhatsApp are still saying they won’t sell ads

This note, written by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, lives in WhatsApp’s offices and promises no funny business. The company also made a commitment to no ads back in 2012

Time will tell if the vow will hold, but Zuckerberg has stated that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently, as Instagram did after Facebook bought the photo sharing app for $1bn in 2012.

2. WhatsApp have never spent a penny on marketing
User acquisition was organic, and those users stuck around because the service didn’t’ abuse their data. In fact, WhatsApp wants as little data from users as possible. Something tells me Facebook may not share that sentiment.

3. Five years ago, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton got rejections from both Facebook and Twitter

4. In 2004, Zuckerberg played a cruel prank on venture capital film Sequoia Capital. But they got their own back
A young Mark Zuckerberg attended a meeting with Sequoia Capital and instead of asking for money, he told them why they shouldn’t invest, and wasted their time. Fast forward 10 years, and Sequoia Capital now own about 40% of WhatsApp, and have made about $6.4bn from the acquisition. Read more about his prank here

It’s still early days of course, but there’s already speculation on what this means for the two services, and competitors. Will Facebook infiltrate WhatsApp, and start charging users for stickers? Will WhatsApp become a totally free app? Will Facebook use WhatsApp user data (including actual messages sent) to serve up more tailored ads on Facebook?

Keep an eye out, I’ve got a feeling we might be seeing a gimmick or two soon.

By DMA guest blogger Bizhan Govindji, Senior Account Executive, Social@Ogilvy