As the big tech company tries to capitalise on the most widely used messaging app globally, Meta is launching paid advertising on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp announced on Monday that it will expand the feature globally over the coming months, boasting over 3 billion monthly active users, including 200 million businesses.
Ads wouldn’t obstruct private conversations
The advertisements will be kept apart from the main chat conversation area by appearing in the Status section of the messaging service, which is accessible through the Updates tab on the left of the app screen.
“This was a long-time request that we had from businesses, and they care about preserving people’s personal spaces,” said Nikila Srinivasan, vice president of business messaging at WhatsApp.
Prior to the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, Brian Acton, one of its co-founders, enforced the policy of “No ads! No games! No gimmicks!”
The group claimed that the decision to depart from that long-standing stance was made because there was now “a space” for advertising that wouldn’t obstruct private conversations.
“People want to use WhatsApp for more than messaging close friends and family, and looking back a year and a half ago, that is part of the reason we introduced this Updates tab . . . If you’re someone who uses WhatsApp for personal messaging and you never come to this tab, you won’t see [advertising],” Srinivasan added.
Concerns over Trump’s tariff policy on advertisement
Investors were worried that the tariff policy implemented by US President Donald Trump and the associated economic uncertainty would severely hurt Meta’s advertising business, but Meta reported better-than-expected results in April.
By implementing advertisements on WhatsApp, Meta will be able to increase its earnings even more and profit from one of its few unmarketed platforms.
For a monthly charge, WhatsApp will also offer the option to subscribe to Channels, which are streams of creators’ exclusive content. Some channels, like those from brands or small businesses, can also pay to be featured in a feed of other accounts.
According to the company, calls, messages, and status updates will all continue to be end-to-end encrypted, meaning that only the sender and the recipient can access the data.
WhatsApp clarified, however, that it would choose which advertisements to display based on a user’s location, device language, channels they follow, and marketing interactions.