\u201cIf you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones, there will be no change to your experience at all,\u201d parent company Meta said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the company, ads won\u2019t show up inside your chats. Instead, they will appear in the Updates<\/em> tab, a feature launched in 2023 that lets users follow public Channels<\/em> for news and announcements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These channels, used by everyone from local governments to content creators, will now be able to pay for promoted placement, boosting visibility to WhatsApp\u2019s 1.5 billion daily users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users may start to see ads in the Status<\/em> section as well. These ads will function much like Instagram Stories: tap on one to begin a chat with the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta will also allow Channels<\/em> to offer exclusive content via paid subscriptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Channels will remain free to follow, admins can now offer premium posts to subscribers, providing a new way to monetise their content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta said it will take a 10% commission on these subscriptions, though this fee will be waived until the end of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta said that it will use “limited user information” to target ads: things like your city or country, language, the Channels you follow, and how you engage with ads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Critically, Meta said that personal messages, phone numbers, and group activity will not<\/em> be used to tailor ads, and chats remain end-to-end encrypted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users connected to Facebook or Instagram accounts may see more personalised ads, though integration with Meta\u2019s \u201cAccounts Centre\u201d is opt-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WhatsApp says users will have the ability to manage ad preferences, hide ads, or report them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta Vice President of Product Management Nikila Srinivasan said that the updates are designed to support businesses and organisations trying to grow on WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople really want to chat to businesses on their own terms,\u201d Srinivasan told reporters, \u201cand they want to do it in a place where they already spend their time, which is on WhatsApp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This strategy aligns with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s vision of messaging becoming the company\u2019s \u201cnext major pillar\u201d of business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Facebook and Instagram have long generated the bulk of Meta\u2019s revenue through advertising, WhatsApp has remained largely ad-free and difficult to monetise, despite its global reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WhatsApp was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) for $19 billion in 2014, but its founders, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, famously resisted turning the app into an ad platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a 2012 blog post, they wrote: \u201cWe wanted to make something that wasn\u2019t just another ad clearinghouse,\u201d adding that ads were \u201cinsults to your intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat data is being used<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why are ads being introduced?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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