Blog: Messaging apps

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Grok meets Telegram: Why is AI being shoehorned into messaging platforms?

Cover image for Grok meets Telegram: Why is AI being shoehorned into messaging platforms?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jun 2025

Product Strategy

In an unusual twist, on May 28, 2025, xAI agreed to pay Telegram $300 million in cash to be integrated into the messaging platform (per Reuters ). It is not every day you see a feature paying its platform to be combined into its existing service, but, Elon Musk is not often one for the traditional playbook.

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The COVID Bounce: Part II

Cover image for The COVID Bounce: Part II

Mark Mulligan

2 Apr 2020

coronavirus consumer behaviour

In their early stages, COVID-19 self-isolation measures have quickly created new consumer behaviour patterns, oriented around four key axes: Communication Entertainment Information/news Education (for children at home) The demand for the first two of these behaviour groups is clearly illustrated by the mobile apps that consumers are downloading.

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WhatsApp Is Open for Business (Finally)

Georgia Meyer

8 Aug 2018

Four years after Facebook purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion, the ubiquitous messaging app is ramping up its revenue potential with the launch last week of a suite of business tools and new advertising inventory on the app.

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Snapchat Cuts Snapcash but Continues to Grow Commerce Strategy

Georgia Meyer

25 Jul 2018

Almost four years after launching Snapcash Snap has decided to call time on the peer-to-peer payment service. On the surface Snapcash was set up to facilitate simple transfers of money between friends.

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Facebook Aims to Bring The Fun Back Into Music

Mark Mulligan

5 Jun 2018

Facebook has announced its long mooted move into music. As widely anticipated the service offering focuses on using music to add context to social experiences. The official blog outlines two key use cases: Adding music to videosDoing live stream lip syncs in Facebook Live videos For now the roll out is limited, which will give Facebook the opportunity to hone the service and learn from the behaviour of a relatively narrow user group.

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Does Tencent Hold The Key To The Future Of Media Distribution?

Tim Mulligan

3 May 2018

The digital foundations of premium video are undergoing profound transformation. Firstly, traditional TV programming and feature films are becoming decoupled from their original distribution technologies and repositioned as premium video content for digital services.

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Twitter Lite is now available on Google Play In 24 more countries

Karol Severin

1 Dec 2017

Twitter has launched Twitter Lite on Google Play store in 24 countries. The move comes after successful testing in the Philippines. Users in countries where mobile data is expensive, and perhaps disposable income is relatively low, will welcome the Lite version.

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Spotify, Netflix And Instagram Make Gains In Q2 2017

Cover image for Spotify, Netflix And Instagram Make Gains In Q2 2017

Mark Mulligan

19 Sep 2017

candy crush saga

Since Q4 2016 MIDiA Research has been fielding a quarterly tracker survey across the US, UK, Canada and Australia to build a proprietary dataset that provides a unique insight into how digital consumer trends are evolving quarter-upon-quarter.

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Quick Take: Snapchat Opens Up To Brands

Zach Fuller

5 May 2017

campaign management

Having incurred considerable audience loss to Instagram since the Facebook owned platform began copying several of the image-based messaging apps most popular features, Snapchat is fighting back with its latest pitch to brands and advertisers.

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Snapchat Hooks Up With Vice To Produce An Original Dating Series

Tim Mulligan

15 Mar 2017

Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. has followed up on its huge publicity around its recent IPO (Initial Public Offering) to land a significant content deal with Vice Media. Rapper chef Action Bronson (real name Arian Asllani) is set to host an eight episode dating series developed by Vice’s pay-TV channel Viceland entitled “Hungry Hearts With Action Bronson”.

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Quick Take: WeChat Introduces Paid Content For Public Accounts

Karol Severin

20 Feb 2017

Mobile messaging

It’s no secret that Asian messaging platforms have been leading much of the global innovation efforts, regarding the monetization of mobile messaging. Last week it emerged that WeChat is trialling Paid Content for public accounts.

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The BBC’s Planet Earth II, Snapchat And The Premium Content Play

Tim Mulligan

6 Feb 2017

Hot on the heels of last week’s S-1 Initial Public Offering prospectus release by Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat, was this morning’s announcement that the US messaging service is partnering with BBC Worldwide, the international commercial arm of the BBC, to launch an exclusive series of Planet Earth II shows on Snapchat’s Discover platform in the US and Canada.

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Facebook Is Finally Ready To Become A Media Company

Mark Mulligan

10 Nov 2016

Facebook beat estimates with its latest earnings but announced that ad revenues would likely slow in 2017 as the digital ad market feels the pinch of advertiser budgets lagging the shift in user behaviour.

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Video Metrics In The Landscape Of The Walled Ecosystems

Tim Mulligan

27 Sep 2016

The recent revelation by Facebook that it had overstated its video metrics –the amount of time which Facebook viewers have been actually watching Videos by up to 80% due to opacity in its reporting of video consumption reveals the glaring problem of relying upon unaudited platforms for user data.

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MIDIA Blog Exclusive: Just How Well Are Chatbots Actually Doing?

Cover image for MIDIA Blog Exclusive: Just How Well Are Chatbots Actually Doing?

Mark Mulligan

11 Sep 2016

Chart Of The Week

Facebook messenger

The arrival of chatbots has been widely covered by the media in the last few months. The hype peaked in April 2016 when Facebook (though by no means the first company to do so) released its Messenger Platform and invited developers to build chatbots for its Messenger app.

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The Voice Comes To Snapchat

Tim Mulligan

9 Aug 2016

Yesterday’s announcement by TV Network NBCUniversal that it has agreed a new multi-year deal with Snapchat to produce short form versions of its content specifically for the messaging platform represents a significant move forward for both companies.

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Why Disney Is Going Into Mobile Messaging

Karol Severin

5 Aug 2016

Disney announced a launch of Disney Mix, a messaging platform aimed at kids, tweens and their families. This is an important case to watch because it shows that: In a seemingly crowded space, there is still room for niche media platforms to integrate messaging functionalities and benefit from a reinforcement of community and engagement.

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