WhatsApp will now have ads

Meta has announced it will begin showing advertisements in WhatsApp's Status feature, marking a significant shift for the messaging platform that has remained largely ad-free since its acquisition by Facebook in 2014. 

According to an official blog post by WhatsApp, the ads will appear exclusively in the Updates tab alongside Status updates and Channels, keeping them separate from personal conversations, which the company says will remain completely unaffected. The new advertising system will allow businesses to promote products and services through Status updates, where users can view the content and directly message the advertiser, says WhatsApp.

WhatsApp emphasises that personal messages, calls, and groups will maintain end-to-end encryption and won't be used for ad targeting. Instead, the platform will rely on limited information like general location, language preferences, followed channels, and past ad interactions to determine which promotions users see. For those who have linked their WhatsApp account to Meta's Accounts Center, broader advertising preferences from other Meta platforms may also inform the ads.  

Alongside Status ads, WhatsApp is introducing additional monetisation features. Channel subscriptions will let users pay a monthly fee for exclusive content from their favourite creators and organisations, while promoted Channels will help businesses boost their visibility in the directory. The company stresses that all these new features are confined to the Updates tab, which already sees 1.5 billion daily users engaging with Status and Channels.  

The move represents WhatsApp's most substantial step toward monetisation yet, though Meta has taken care to position it as privacy-conscious. The company reiterated that it will never sell users' phone numbers to advertisers and that personal communications won't factor into ad targeting. This rollout follows years of deliberation within Meta about how to generate revenue from WhatsApp without alienating its user base.  

For businesses, WhatsApp says these changes will offer new ways to reach potential customers through Status ads and promoted Channels. The company also says that regular users who primarily use WhatsApp for personal chats won't see any difference in their experience, though those who frequent the Updates tab will notice the gradual introduction of sponsored content alongside updates from contacts.