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The new fees are being communicated to companies that operate Viber chatbots, but Viber hinted at its new monetization plans in an email to TechCrunch. Those that exceed that range will be eligible to send up to one million messages per month for $6,500. Starting April 1, Viber will charge chatbot operators $4,500 per month for the ability to send up to 500,000 messages to users. The conventional wisdom is to work with content companies to help bring users to messaging platforms and keep them engaged, but Viber, which has struggled to keep up with rivals like WhatsApp and Line, is turning that on its head. Most of Viber’s features are free, with some exceptions including calls made to landlines, international calls, and calls made to cell phones that do not have the Viber app.Viber, the messaging app owned by Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, is poised to implement a controversial new strategy that will see it charge companies that run chatbots on its platform. Viber has over a billion users and supports over two million interactions every minute, according to the company. When customers are interested, transitioning from marketing to selling is enabled with e-commerce integration.
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The chat program offers direct marketing to help businesses attract users with promotional opportunities like stickers, ads, communities and direct marketing messages. Extensions exist for finding restaurants, performing searches and sharing music and video. Viber supports extensions for capabilities that allow users to do more without leaving chat windows. By tapping a block of text, the user can choose a language and instantly translate the text. Users who speak different languages can converse with real-time translation features. The software also enables switching calls and chats between mobile and desktop. Viber’s instant messaging includes features like the capacity to share photos, GIFs, stickers, videos and emoticons.Ĭonnecting desktop and smartphone chat, Viber supports iOS, Android, Windows XP and up, Mac OS 10.7 and up, as well as Linux Fedora and Ubuntu. The app is popular for users who want to hold public and private conversations, as well as play games with other users and access the service via desktop. Viber is compatible with voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Siri, as well as the contacts list in a user’s phone. Messages sent over Viber are protected with end-to-end encryption. It Is a product of Rakuten Viber, a multinational internet company headquartered in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Viber is a VoIP and instant messaging application with cross-platform capabilities that allows users to exchange audio and video calls, stickers, group chats, and instant voice and video messages.
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