The big picture: Reddit said in a statement that it plans to make "strategic investments" in the video, advertising, and consumer products, and expand into international markets.
- The platform has 50 million active daily users. Reddit's advertising revenue rose 90% in the last quarter from a year ago, as the platform was at the heart of a [retail trading frenzy](https://ideastoday.in/digests/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-m...) involving "meme stocks" such as GameStop and AMC.
Between the lines: WhatsApp insiders say this slow growth has been due to choice; as the company wants to get the technology right and ensure a smooth user experience before marketing the service.
- However, market observers feel that current concerns about the ownership and privacy of digital data and big tech firms' power could be part of the reason.
- Also, WhatsApp Pay went live after months of regulatory hurdles, and that too for a restricted user base of 20 million. Some experts say that WhatsApp might be waiting for these restrictions to be lifted, to ensure a low rate of transaction failures via the platform.
- Others also say that WhatsApp may not have invested adequately in technology and talent acquisition.
Of note: WhatsApp's controversial global privacy policy update does not apply to its payment services, which are governed by the India Payment Privacy Policy mandated by RBI and NPCI.