WeChat tests mobile advertising service

SHANGHAI -- WeChat, China's most popular social networking app, is testing a new service offering: mobile marketing.

 

Tencent Holdings, the country’s Internet giant and developer of WeChat, has started including advertisements in the app’s Moments section, where users share information with friends just like in Facebook's timeline. The first ad, which seemed like a test message by Tencent itself, said "it (referring to ads?) can be a part of life," but did not specify any brand. 

 

The mobile marketing and advertising service is expected to bring huge income for Tencent. It is currently in the testing phase, with an official version targeted for launch soon.  The company did not disclose, however, how the service will help clients spread their ads among WeChat users. 

 

Mobile advertising has been gaining traction as consumer brands leverage the accessibility and wider reach of mobile Internet platforms to promote products. Industry speculations point to big international players in the personal care industry such as P&G, Unilever, and L’Oreal as among those likely to be the first brands to venture into this new territory as reflected in their shift toward digital marketing and higher advertising costs on WeChat.

 

Currently the most popular social networking app in China, WeChat had more 468 million monthly active users as of the third quarter of 2014. The huge user volume makes the app a more appealing platform for promoting brands compared with other social networking apps.