It looks like OpenAI’s Bing-allied GPT Chat won’t be the only threat to Google’s search business model in the future. With the release of the WhatsApp Business (WAB) app, Meta is effectively building a sort of search engine rival to Google to keep us all inside the app. While that doesn’t bother companies in the US too much – where iMessage retains the lion’s share of messaging habits – in Europe and large swathes of the “rest of the world”, WhatsApp has supplanted many other types of messaging due to its efficient use of data on even the thinnest of mobile networks.
For example, the UK has the third highest number of WhatsApp users in Europe at 40.41 million, and it is the most widely used chat app in the UK. About 75% of 16-64 year olds use it.
In November last year, Mark Zuckerberg launched the WhatsApp Business Directory feature. This mapped out its future, with in-app purchases and WhatsApp business pages. They are, for all intents and purposes, mini websites, of sorts. This poses a problem for Google.
So what are the implications? Simply put, if businesses increasingly find that they also need to have a “storefront” in WhatsApp – and assuming they aren’t sophisticated enough to know how to use the API, they will need a new phone number. And it’s fair to say that most people prefer messaging over calling when interacting with businesses.
This would then be used to create a unique ID for the WhatsApp Business app. At this point, many small businesses are often faced with a dilemma: they realize that they need a second number (most of the time on another handset). This means that they have to choose a second number through a website, a second number through an app, get a second number through a mobile operator or dual SIM / Esim, which can be expensive and cumbersome.
That’s when all they really need is that unique ID to use WAB on their own phone. Realizing that all small businesses wanted was to solve this problem, that’s what UK startup YourBusinessNumber set out to do in 2021.
It has developed its own unique internal tools – it claims – to ensure that the UID is verified by WhatsApp Business and the connection is made between a small business owner’s personal number and their new WAB number (the cost is £4.99 per month). In this way, the small entrepreneur can always manage his business from his own phone, without having to give out his personal number.
YourBusinessNumber strips data, minutes, texts and usage of apps or VOIP, offering only UID. It does this by accessing the cheapest mobile/cellular numbers available in each market with the thinnest telecommunications offers. It also breaks the connection to WhatsApp if the business stops paying or violates WhatsApp’s terms and conditions, slowing down spammers and non-payers. It has now launched a Google Play Store app to facilitate the service.
While networks can charge £25-100 per month for traditional business contracts, YourBusinessNumber’s much lower fees seem to give it a competitive edge.
The platform allows companies to receive OTP/SMS and calls as well as a team solution so that employees can also respond to WAB messages without having to reveal their phone number. Growth areas for YBN include the real estate agents, recruitment, and hospitality industries.
Co-founder George Linbeker said in a statement, “We are the fastest, easiest and cheapest solution on the market – with 30% MoM growth. We live in the UK and USA and have big global plans to solve this problem for others.
Founders Lineker and Sebastian Lewis have so far raised seed money for the startup which now sells in more than 50 countries including the United States and plans to expand to Brazil, India, the Philippines and in Germany. The startup launched in June 2021, recently raising £450,000, bringing its total raise to almost £1m. Seed investors include Edward Woodward (Ex Man UTD) and English football legend Gary Lineker (father of George).
On a call, Lewis told me, “We spent a lot of time and money developing an internal system that checks if the customer is verified. It’s our unique IP address, and we’re betting that we’re going to get the most people verified on WhatsApp, as opposed to someone going out on the street buying a phone number and trying to do it by himself.
Since YourBusinessNumber doesn’t have much to stop its growth, this is another indication that WhatsApp is about to create a plethora of other services (when will a ChatGPT-like service appear, I wonder?) which leaves Google with another potentially big headache.
