Telegram is approaching 500 million active users, a figure that plans challenges for messaging service maintenance and has led its founder, Pavel Durov, to share his plans for the service’s future from 2021.
The growth the application has undergone leads to an increase in the cost of servers and traffic. During this time, Durov himself was responsible for paying the costs with his personal savings, but it is a measure that cannot be extended over time.
“With its current growth, Telegram is on track to reach billions of users and need sufficient funding,” Durov noted in a publication, indicating that “when a technology project reaches this scale, there are generally two options: make money. to cover the costs or to sell the business. “
Durov has assured they will not sell the company “as the founders of WhatsApp did”. But it has reported that Telegram will receive revenue next year, in a non-intrusive way that most users “barely notice.”
This will happen with new features and payment functions being introduced for businesses or the most active users. Normal users will continue to have access to the usual functions, which are free.
Advertising is included in these plans. Durov has made sure it won’t appear in chats or other messaging features, although it will appear on channels. For this, Telegram will have its own advertising platform to ensure that the advertising respects privacy without disturbing users while helping to cover the costs.