Under Google’s new paid storage space policy, WhatsApp users may incur a monthly storage fee for saving chat history, including videos and images. This move will likely adversely impact influencers, youth, and nano businesses.
In a significant shift impacting millions of Android users, Google announced its plans to include WhatsApp chat backup within the free storage limit for its accounts. This change, set to roll out by mid-2024 after a beta release in December 2023, poses a notable shift for those relying on the platform’s free backup services. The policy shift indicates that users must pay for additional space once they exhaust their free storage quota of 15GB. This development comes as a considerable setback for many nano businesses% E2%80%94 small-scale ventures such as influencers, content creators, etc.- whose day-to-day business operations rely on WhatsApp backups for record-keeping and references. According to Statista, India has the most WhatsApp users, with 535 million. The number is rising at a rate of 16.6% every year. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in India, which has made SMS redundant in many ways for both personal and business messaging. The second contender, Brazil, is much behind at 118.5 million users in the race. In 2021, the number of global consumers and companies using WhatsApp Business was estimated to surpass 1.2 billion users. WhatsApp Business was downloaded 292 million times on Android and iOS devices in 2022. According to a WhatsApp report, 50 million (5 crore) businesses use the WhatsApp Business application, out of which 15 million (1.5 crore) are Indian businesses. The impending change in backup policy particularly impacts influencers, youth and nano business owners who heavily rely on chat history, especially voice recordings, videos and images for professional and personal use. With this shift, these small-scale entrepreneurs will face a tough choice%E2%80%94either subscriber will have to buy additional storage space or continuously delete chat history to manage within the limits. This transition is expected to disproportionately affect content creators and influencers who regularly back up large video and image files. The current free storage limit of 15 GB will fall short for these individuals who produce content regularly, compelling them to incur additional expenses to store their creations. Google’s subscription-based storage solution, starting at Rs 130 per month for 100 GB, presents an added financial burden for these users. While this move is projected to be a significant revenue booster for Google, even if it attracts a fraction of the 535 million WhatsApp users to sign up for additional storage, it also marks a strategic step towards WhatsApp’s monetization. WhatsApp said in its blog that it will notify users 30 days before implementing the change, aiming to inform and prepare its vast user base. The repercussions of this policy shift are expected to unfold gradually, affecting a diverse array of users%E2%80%94 from everyday business owners to digital content creators. The looming timeline of mid-2024 provides a window for users to adapt to the impending changes, yet the concerns about added expenses and the impact on small-scale enterprises remain prevalent. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, this move underscores the complex balance between convenience, accessibility, and the growing need for sustainable revenue models for new-age businesses that rely heavily on new forms of communication, including social media and widely used communication platforms like WhatsApp.
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Source: The Economic Times
