From next year Telegram will begin monetisation, said the founder of the messenger Pavel Durov.
He said that for many years he funded the company with his own money, but as the user base grew, costs also rose.
According to him, in such cases the company has two options — “to start earning money to cover costs or to sell to a larger player”.
“We are not going to sell the company, as the WhatsApp founders did. Telegram is needed by the world as an independent project where users’ rights are respected and high-quality service is provided,” wrote Durov.
He said that Telegram monetisation would begin next year, but “most users will hardly notice any significant changes”.
All current Telegram services will remain free. Paid features will be introduced for business teams and users with expanded needs.
Telegram will also offer its own advertising platform for channels, “which will provide users with comfort and privacy”, and will allow companies to cover server and traffic costs, wrote Durov.
“All Telegram services related to messaging will remain free of advertising. We believe that advertising in private and group chats is unacceptable,” he noted.
Earlier, Pavel Durov said that twice declined offers to sell a stake in the messenger amid the threat of its being blocked.
Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog Feed — the full feed of news, ForkLog — the most important news and polls.