What is Telegram and why is it so popular?

Telegram explained: a cloud-based messaging app with chats, groups, channels, bots, Mini Apps, Stars and TON integration — why it grew past a billion users and how creators and businesses use it.

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Cream paper plane surrounded by orbiting chat bubbles, phones, a bot and app tiles — what is Telegram

Content owner: Adsun Editorial & Ad Operations Team · Last verified: 2026-10-18

Quick answer

Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app founded in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov. Besides private chats and large groups, it offers broadcast channels, programmable bots, Mini Apps (web apps that open inside the chat), Telegram Stars payments and a TON blockchain wallet. Telegram reports more than a billion monthly active users, which makes it one of the biggest platforms for creators, communities, games and crypto projects — and a major advertising channel, where Adsun helps businesses reach users inside Mini Apps, bots and channels.

Key takeaways

Telegram is a cloud messaging app with groups, channels, bots and Mini Apps.
It reports over 1 billion monthly active users.
Creators earn through ads, Stars, subscriptions and sponsorships.
Adsun is a Telegram-first ad network for advertisers and publishers.

Main Telegram features

Private and secret chats, synced across devices.
Groups for large communities with admin tools.
Channels to broadcast to unlimited subscribers.
Bots built with the Bot API.
Mini Apps: full web apps inside Telegram.
Telegram Stars for digital purchases.
Telegram Premium with extra features.
Built-in access to TON wallets.

Why people and businesses use it

Telegram is fast, free and global. Businesses use channels for news, bots for support and sales, and Mini Apps for games, shops and tools. Crypto and Web3 projects use it as their main community platform.

Telegram for advertisers and creators

Adsun is the Telegram-first ad network built for exactly this stage: publishers earn USDT from Reward, Interstitial and Task blocks in Mini Apps, sponsored bot messages and channel posts, and advertisers grow channels, bots and Mini Apps with CPM or CPC campaigns paid in USDT — all from one free account with real support on Telegram.

Metric definitions and formulas

CPM: Cost per mille: what an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions.CPM = (Ad spend ÷ Impressions) × 1,000
CPC: Cost per click: average price an advertiser pays for one click.CPC = Ad spend ÷ Clicks
CTR: Click-through rate: the share of impressions that produced a click.CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100%
eCPM: Effective CPM: what a publisher earns per 1,000 impressions, whatever the pricing model.eCPM = (Publisher earnings ÷ Impressions) × 1,000
Fill rate: The share of ad requests that returned an ad.Fill rate = (Filled ad requests ÷ Total ad requests) × 100%

More terms in the glossary and the advertising metrics guide.

Worked example

Hypothetical example — not real Telegram or Adsun data

A new Mini App reaches 5,000 daily active users. Each user sees 3 rewarded ads a day = 15,000 impressions. At a $1.20 eCPM: 15,000 ÷ 1,000 × $1.20 = $18 per day, about $540 a month. The owner spends $100 on an Adsun CPC campaign at $0.05 per click = 2,000 clicks; 40% open the app = 800 new users, cost per user = $0.125. Replace every figure with your own data.

Adsun measurement methodology

Adsun counts an impression when an ad is rendered in a publisher block, a click when the user opens the ad destination, and a reward only after the server-to-server Reward URL confirms completion. Debug-mode traffic is excluded from billing and reports. Metrics are shown per platform, block and country in the partner and advertiser dashboards. Adsun does not publish aggregate network benchmarks in this guide; any number below marked “Hypothetical” is illustrative only. See the SDK documentation for integration details.

About Adsun

Adsun is a Telegram advertising network operated by Adsun. Products: Rewarded ads, Interstitial ads, Task ads, Native ads. Platforms: Telegram Mini Apps, Telegram bots, Telegram channels. Learn more about Adsun.

Start earning or growing with Adsun

Publishers earn USDT from Mini Apps, bots and channels. Advertisers reach Telegram users with CPM or CPC campaigns.

Become a publisher — sign up free Start advertising

Frequently asked questions

Is Telegram free?

Yes. Telegram is free; Telegram Premium is an optional paid subscription.

Who owns Telegram?

Telegram was founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov and is privately owned.

Can I make money on Telegram?

Yes — through channels, bots, Mini Apps, Stars and ads. See our guide on making money on Telegram.

Sources

Update log

2026-10-21: First published. Telegram and TON features are described generally; check telegram.org and docs.ton.org for current rules.

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