Revenue pressures forced WhatsApp to turn to e-commerce, and now the company is contending with a plague of spammers
On July 18, Aishwarya Rao, a long-time WhatsApp user, was at her wit’s end when she decided to take to Twitter.
“First it was email, then it was SMS. Now it’s WhatsApp — can’t escape the spam,”Rao tweeted
She was expressing frustration about her favorite messaging app turning into a spam box.
That day, the first 10 messages on her WhatsApp were all boilerplate outreach from corporations, promoting products, deals, and discount coupons.
She first began noticing business outreach messages on WhatsApp at the end of 2021, but, in the past six months, it has become incessant.
Verified handles, bearing green check marks, from businesses such as shopping app Flipkart, retail chain Croma, delivery app Zepto, fashion store are flooding her personal WhatsApp chats
Over the past year, the company has aggressively expanded its WhatsApp Business services in the country, allowing brands to reach out to customers.
Direct access to customers over WhatsApp is an exciting proposition for Indian businesses since a reported 80% of messages sent on the app.
WhatsApp did not respond to specific questions on the rise of spam.