WhatsApp ads are finally coming to your account, and you will see them for channels and status updates from friends, among other places, including interesting (pop-up) ads.
WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app with over 3 billion monthly active users, has begun rolling out advertisements, ending over a decade of speculation about how its parent company, Meta, would monetise the platform while preserving its core ad-free experience.
The move, announced on June 16 at the Cannes Lions advertising industry conference, introduces ads to the app’s Updates tab, signalling a strategic shift to tap into WhatsApp’s massive user base for revenue growth while sparking concerns about user privacy and experience.
The new advertising features, confined to the Updates tab housing the Status and Channels features, include “status ads” similar to Instagram Stories, where businesses can promote content that prompts users to initiate chats.
Additionally, Meta is introducing promoted channels to boost business visibility and paid subscriptions for exclusive content from creators and organisations.
Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s vice president of product management for business messaging, emphasised that personal chats, calls, and group messages will remain ad-free and end-to-end encrypted, stating, “Your messages remain entirely off-limits from anything to do with ads.”
Meta’s decision reverses WhatsApp’s founding ethos of “No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!” as articulated by co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who left the company in 2018 amid reported clashes over monetisation.
Since Meta’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, the app has generated modest revenue—estimated at $500 million to $1 billion annually—primarily through business messaging tools like the WhatsApp Business API and click-to-message ads on Facebook and Instagram.
The new in-app ads are projected to significantly boost Meta’s revenue, with analysts estimating a potential $6 billion from status ads alone.
Ad targeting will rely on basic user data such as location, language, device type, and ad interactions, with optional integration of Facebook and Instagram preferences for users linking accounts via Meta’s Accounts Centre. Despite assurances, privacy advocates have raised alarms.
John Davisson of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre called the move “another betrayal of the privacy protections that once distinguished WhatsApp,” citing Meta’s 2021 terms-of-service backlash over perceived data-sharing concerns.
Social media expert Matt Navarra warned that monetising WhatsApp risks a user backlash, particularly in markets like the UK and Europe, where the app is seen as a private messaging tool.
Netizens reflect similar sentiments, with users expressing frustration, one calling it Meta’s “dumbest idea ever”.
Meta’s broader strategy aligns WhatsApp with its ad-driven platforms like Facebook and Instagram, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg labelling it “the next chapter” for growth.
As the rollout progresses, WhatsApp faces the challenge of balancing monetisation with its privacy-first reputation, with potential plans for an ad-free subscription model looming.
