Telegram is getting ads and you’ll have to pay to get rid of them

Telegram, the free instant messaging service, has recently launched an ad platform. This is following a massive boost partly caused by a Facebook outage, causing Telegram to reach a billion downloads on Android alone.

Later this month, they are also launching a paid subscription to hide the advertisements and support the development of the platform.

Telegram’s ad platform: how it would work

Advertisers are now able to make ‘sponsored messages‘ that will be displayed in large channels with 1000 or more subscribers. This means that you will not see ads in any small group chats. The sponsored messages will be limited to 160 characters and have to be on the same topic as the channel it is shown in.

Telegram says that they will not track if users tap on the ads, and they will prevent external links to ensure that the advertisers do not spy on any users. Internal links to other channels are allowed.

Once they are out of the testing phase, Telegram will start sharing ad revenue with the owners of public channels in which sponsored messages are displayed.

Remove Telegram ads with a paid subscription service

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov made an announcement shortly after the ad platform was launched. In the post, he mentioned a paid subscription service that would disable the ads for you.

The pricing has not been confirmed yet, but Durov says that it will be an ‘inexpensive subscription’. Owners of big channels will also have the ability to turn off advertisements in their channels for all users, but Telegram is still calculating the economic conditions for this option. Durov also mentions “invisible ads” that advertisers will soon be able to place, but it is unclear how this would work.

This whole development is quite ironic, as Telegram has always been proud of being “free forever”, with a quote saying “No ads. No subscription service” still on their website.

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