> it’s the de facto standard messaging app outside the US.

Agreed and in combination with FB messenger they've got most of the market...but what of it?

They're literally competing against a donation supported app. Pause for a second and think about what that says about how little direct money there is in the space.

Plus it's E2E encrypted & has significant user privacy expectations so significant limitations on how you can leverage it for their adtech biz

I'm not saying whatsapp is dead or a failure as a messenger. It's a great addition to round out an ecosystem but don't think it's any good as the primary load bearing pillar of a 1.5 trillion company in the same way search is for google