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February 19, 2025 | 3:20pm
The Viber logo is shown on a tablet screen in Toulouse, France.
AFP / Lionel Bonaventure
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines remains one of the highest users of cross-platform social media app Rakuten Viber, which will continue to release more business-centered features in the country.
Executives for the platform, led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ofir Eyal, met with members of the media, including Philstar.com, last February 18 in Taguig to discuss Viber's latest developments and updates in the Philippines.
Eyal shared that among the 190 countries Viber is present, the Philippines is among the top fives users, which Eyal attributed to Filipinos' culture of connections.
The CEO also noted the the rise of "super apps," where multiple actions can be done, and Viber is considering these with the presence of features across socializing, business, advertising, and more.
David Tse, the app's Senior Director for Asia-Pacific, said the past year saw monthly active users in the Philippines up by 21%, and 17% more users joined channels and communities.
He also talked about how the app's Business feature was first launched in the Philippines in 2023, a year ahead of its global release, and how the app teased a toolkit expansion of premium features for this year.
Among these features shared by Senior Director for Sales and Partnerships Noa Bar Shay are full screen ads, dating ads, video ads, generative response ads, and list and carousel messages to join verification (OTP) and SecurePlus messages for brands.
Shay revealed more Viber Business data in the Philippines from the past year: 14% increase in new business accounts by enterprises, 862 million average monthly ads impressions, and a 53% increase in business messages delivered.
Related: Social media app launches new dating feature
Viber Dating
The most recent feature rolled out by the app was Viber Dating, which Ofir admitted was conceived, developed, and unveiled first in the Philippines.
The new feature joins present platforms for dating, such as apps like Bumble and Tinder, as well as Meta's Facebook Dating feature.
The difference now is that users can smoothly transfer to a proper messaging platform where they can keep building connections securely and privately.
Only verified Viber users can create free profiles on the new feature, and these users have registered mobile numbers, which are kept hidden from others.
Dating profiles — visible only to those with similar profiles — are separate from the main account to ensure private activity from primary connections.
The app said it is applying moderation techniques by both machine and humans for a positive experience.
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