Minimal and Consent-Based: Data related to Premium subscriptions primarily includes payment information (handled by third-party payment providers, not stored by Telegram) and the user's Telegram ID to link the subscription to their account.
No Behavioral Targeting: The Premium features themselves are not personalized based on extensive user behavior analysis beyond the fact that a user is a subscriber. There's no indication that purchasing Premium leads to more targeted internal features or content recommendations based on deeply analyzed user data.
Supporting the Ecosystem: The direct revenue from Premium users supports the entire platform, reducing the pressure to monetize non-Premium users through data-intensive advertising.
2. Sponsored Messages: Privacy-Conscious Advertising
Introduced in late 2021, Sponsored Messages represent Telegram's attempt at an advertising model that adheres to its privacy principles.
How it Works: These are short, minimalist text ads (up to 160 characters) displayed in large public channels (typically over 1,000 subscribers). They are clearly marked as "Sponsored."
Key Characteristics:
No User Data Targeting: This is the critical distinction. Telegram usa telegram mobile phone number list explicitly states that these ads "do not rely on users' personal information." Instead, they are contextual—meaning they are based on the content and topic of the public channel they appear in. For example, an ad for a crypto exchange might appear in a channel dedicated to cryptocurrency news.
No External Tracking: These ads do not use cookies, user profiles, or third-party tracking.
Non-Intrusive: They are text-only, not image or video ads, and blend into the channel's message feed.
Revenue Share: Telegram shares 50% of the revenue from Sponsored Messages with the owners of the channels where they are displayed (if they meet certain criteria), incentivizing content creation and community growth.
Premium Exclusion: As mentioned, Premium users do not see these ads.
Role of User Data:
No Personal Data for Targeting: Telegram asserts that it does not collect or use user data (like Browse history, demographics, or private chat content) to target these ads. The targeting is purely based on the public channel's topic and language.
Aggregated Channel Data: While individual user data isn't used for targeting, aggregated, anonymized data about channel topics, audience size, and general engagement might inform advertisers' decisions on which channels to target. However, this is not "user data" in the sense of personal profiling.