Meta To Introduce Ads On WhatsApp

After more than a decade of remaining an ad-free haven, WhatsApp is about to change. On Monday, during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Meta announced it will begin introducing ads within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab—the section of the app that hosts Status and Channels and sees daily engagement from over 1.5 billion users.

This marks a significant shift for the platform. Since Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, the messaging service has resisted the ad-driven business model that defines much of Meta’s portfolio. WhatsApp’s founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, famously championed a “No ads, no games, no gimmicks” philosophy—one that now appears to be officially sunsetted.

Where Will Ads Appear?

According to Meta, ads will initially be limited to the Status feature, allowing users to connect directly with businesses for conversations about advertised products or services. The company emphasised that these ads will appear in a separate space and won’t interrupt private discussions.

Additionally, WhatsApp is launching several monetisation tools for Channels, including:

• Paid Subscriptions: Allowing creators and businesses to offer exclusive updates for a recurring fee.
• Promoted Channels: A feature that surfaces recommended Channels to users within the app’s directory.

Maintaining The Privacy Pitch

The update has already sparked questions around user privacy—a sensitive topic for WhatsApp, especially in light of its past controversies. To pre-empt backlash, Meta’s Global Business Group head Nicola Mendelsohn posted on LinkedIn, assuring users that private chats will remain untouched and that ad integration “won’t disrupt people’s messaging or change the privacy of messages with friends and family.”

This reassurance aligns with the app’s current global ad campaign, “Not Even WhatsApp,” launched in May, which underscores its commitment to end-to-end encryption. As part of that campaign, Meta installed interactive “privacy mirrors” in public spaces across cities like New York, Delhi, London, and São Paulo.

A Platform With A History Of Privacy Scrutiny

Despite ongoing pledges to protect user data, WhatsApp has faced repeated criticism over its privacy practices. From the backlash to its 2021 privacy policy update, which many interpreted as a means to share personal data with Facebook, to the recent unease surrounding Meta AI integrations and data usage, trust has been an ongoing challenge.

In response to these concerns, WhatsApp has recently introduced stronger privacy controls, including an Advanced Chat Privacy mode that limits how chat data can be accessed or used, particularly by AI tools.

Minimal Data for Targeting, Meta Says

In its announcement, Meta reiterated that personal messages, calls, and Status updates will remain encrypted and inaccessible to the company. It clarified that ad targeting will rely on “limited information,” such as users’ general location (city or country), language settings, followed Channels, and their interaction history with ads, rather than specific message content or personal metadata.

Back in 2014, when Facebook acquired WhatsApp, co-founder Jan Koum wrote a blog post assuring users that their values would not be compromised: “If partnering with Facebook meant that we had to change our values, we wouldn’t have done it.” A decade later, that line resonates differently.

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