Mark Zuckerberg just explained how close Messenger and WhatsApp are to making money

A big questions investors have for Facebook is when it will start making money from its collection of standalone apps.

Instagram, the photo-sharing app Facebook bought for US$1 billion in 2012, already contributes significantly to the company’s ad revenue, but the company has been slowly tip-toeing towards monetisation with its two other messaging apps.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out how he thinks about monetising products in three phases during Facebook’s third quarter earnings call on Wednesday:

1. Build a great consumer experience and get it to scale (Facebook does that last part very well).

2. Give people a way to “organically” communicate with businesses.

3. Give businesses “tools to reach those people.”