No More Ad-Free WhatsApp! Status and Channels To Show Ads Starting Soon

WhatsApp has announced that it is introducing ads and subscriptions in Status and Channel sections. For the first time ever, advertisements will show up in the Updates tab and business owners may introduce monthly channel subscriptions for access to exclusive information. This is the first time, WhatsApp has introduced ads on its app since inception. Ever since launch, WhatsApp has been available as a free-to-use tool for the end users, and Facebook finally has decided to make some money through its massive user base on WhatsApp.  

On its blog, WhatsApp announced the introduction of advertisements for the first time ever. These ads will show up in the Status and Channels section in the Updates tab. WhatsApp says that it will use information like the users’ country, city, language, the Channels they are following, and how they interact with ads they see, to show relevant ads. For people that have chosen to add WhatsApp to Accounts Center, Facebook will also use ad preferences and information from across all Meta accounts.

WhatsApp for Business users will also be able to ask for a monthly fee from its user base for channel subscriptions. WhatsApp emphasises that personal messages, calls, and statuses remain end-to-end encrypted and that they won’t be accessed to show ads. Furthermore, Facebook also informs that ads will be limited to the Updates tab where Status and Channel sections reside, and won’t trickle down to any other tab.  The chats section will not see any change in experience with the introduction of these new features.

Facebook has not provided clarity on whether users will be able to opt-out of ads or not. For now, it looks like ads are coming to WhatsApp and there’s no option to switch them off, if the user wants to. While this may be a bummer for end users, it is great news for businesses who can leverage this vast user base to increase visibility and market their products more efficiently.

Before this, WhatsApp was able to monetize only through Busines APIs, but with the introduction of ads, that is about to change. The company says that both Android and iOS users will start seeing ads soon.