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TWITTER TO SURFACE PROMOTED ACCOUNTS IN SEARCH RESULTS: Promoted Accounts will now appear at the top of Twitter search results. Like Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts allow companies to pay for additional exposure on the social network. Promoted Accounts currently appear in the “Who to follow” section on Twitter’s mobile timeline. “We automatically select relevant search queries for presenting Promoted Accounts based on an advertiser’s targeting choices, so no additional action is required for your business to access this capability," says Twitter product manager Nipoon Malhotra in a post on the company's blog. (Mashable, Twitter)
TELEGRAM TOPS WHATSAPP ON APPLE'S FREE APP CHART: Telegram, a dedicated messaging app, now ranks above WhatsApp on Apple’s top free apps chart. Telegram has been downloaded eight million times since WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook. Prior to WhatsApp’s acquisition, Telegram averaged 300,000 to 400,000 downloads per day. The app is now growing around three times faster, with 800,000 to 1 million new downloads daily. Telegram places a significant focus on security and encryption. “The No. 1 reason for me to support and help launch Telegram was to build a means of communication that can’t be accessed by the Russian security agencies,” says Telegram's founder Paul Durov. The correlation in WhatsApp's acquisition and Telegram's rise suggests that there's a fair amount of mistrust of how a big tech company like Facebook might use WhatsApp's data. A messaging app that prizes security first would then become more attractive. (TechCrunch)
FACEBOOK'S STRATEGY FOR EMERGING MARKETS: Wired has an in-depth look at how Facebook plans to overcome the challenges of deploying the world’s most popular social network in emerging markets. Facebook hopes to attract 5 billion new users from Africa, Asia, and South America. But these new markets present numerous challenges not found in more developed countries, including low smartphone penetration, poor wireless network quality, and spotty electrical infrastructure. To overcome these challenges, Facebook has partnered with Ericsson to create a lab that replicates the conditions found in less developed parts of the world. (Wired)
SOFTBANK GOES AFTER LINE: The Japanese telecommunications giant is seeking to acquire a substantial stake in Tokyo-based messaging app LINE. Bloomberg is reporting that LINE has received at least one other offer from another firm to acquire most or all of the company. LINE is currently controlled by South Korean conglomerate Naver, and before the SoftBank acquisition reports, was possibly looking to go public. It is the top-ranked messaging service in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand, according to App Annie. LINE has 340 million users and Bloomberg reports it may be valuated at $14.9 billion. Unlike WhatsApp, LINE has become a bonafide content platform, generating significant revenue from games and stickers. (Bloomberg)
KAKAO BLURS SOCIAL AND MOBILE: Kakao is another direct competitor to WhatsApp, but is much smaller in scale with just 133 million users. Nonetheless, Kakao is looking to separate itself from the messaging pack by offering a flurry of services. Kakao users can share photos, play games, and shop on their favorite retail sites all within the app. It's a way to keep users locked into the Kakao ecosystem, and even to get them to interact. "We're trying all kinds of different things and services. You can call it our survival instinct," said Sigroo Lee, co-CEO of Kakao Corp. (Wall Street Journal)
BEBO TO LAUNCH VIDEO MESSAGING SERVICE: Bebo, a social network that was recently repurchased by its founder from AOL, is launching a video messaging service called Blab. The new video messaging service will function like Snapchat, allowing users to send a video message that is automatically deleted after it is viewed by its recipient. (The Next Web)
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