Who owns Instagram? Who owns WhatsApp? Many people don't know the answer - Facebook wants to avoid this question completely in the future.
A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed to CNET over the weekend that Instagram and WhatsApp will soon be getting a new name. The upcoming change was leaked by The Information a few weeks earlier.
“We want to label Facebook’s products and services more clearly,” says Bertie Thomson.
According to the announcement, the two services will be called "Instagram by Facebook" and "WhatsApp by Facebook". The spokeswoman stressed that the upcoming name changes will have no impact on the functions of the two applications. The new names will be visible in the App Store and on the login screen. The Facebook group acquired the popular chat service WhatsApp in 2014 for around 22 billion US dollars - but to this day almost 50 percent of users do not know who owns the service - according to a recent survey. The situation is said to be similar with Instagram.
Eliminated the competition out of panic?
Although the service was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for around a billion US dollars, not everyone is aware of the affiliation of the photo service. Observers, however, believe that the reason for this change is of a different nature. At the beginning of the week it was announced that the Federal Trade Commission had launched an investigation into the Facebook group due to antitrust concerns. The focus would be on the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. According to the Wall Street Journal, the competition watchdogs believe that Facebook bought both services out of panic about competition. This would also explain Zuckerberg's announcement of a merger of the services - according to critics. It will of course be interesting to see what the outcome of the investigation will be. Apple AirPods with wireless charging case on special offer on Amazon – only for a limited time
