WhatsApp has announced plans to introduce advertising features, marking a significant change since the app has remained ad-free since its launch.
Additionally, Meta will begin monetising WhatsApp’s channels feature through search ads and subscriptions.
The ads will be shown to users within WhatsApp’s updates tab to separate the promotion from personal conversations.
In the rollout, WhatsApp will be introducing new features, which will include paid channel subscriptions, promoted channels in the Discovery directory, and advertisements with Status, the WhatsApp version of Instagram stories.
The company also stressed that users who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging will see no changes to their experience, as all new features are confined to the Updates tab that can be deactivated in the settings.
WhatsApp further emphasized that the new advertising features are designed with privacy safeguards; this means that the company will never sell or share phone numbers to advertisers, assuring that personal messages, calls and group memberships will not influence ad targeting.
