After years of offering its services ad-free, WhatsApp is set to introduce advertisements on its platform. The ads will appear exclusively on the Status screen — WhatsApp’s version of Instagram Stories. Reports Technology News
Similar to Instagram, users will begin seeing ads after viewing a few Status updates. Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, confirmed that the ads will be served based on signals such as users’ location, language, followed channels, and interactions with other ads.
Importantly, Meta stated that it will not use personally identifiable information like phone numbers, messages, calls, or group activity to target ads. However, if users have linked their WhatsApp account to Meta’s Account Center, their account preferences may influence the ads they see.
In addition to Status ads, WhatsApp is expanding monetization options for its broadcast feature, Channels. Businesses and creators will be able to promote their Channels through the discovery section and offer paid subscriptions for exclusive updates. These payments will be handled via app stores.
WhatsApp currently sees over 1.5 billion daily users engaging with Status and Channels. Until now, the platform’s revenue has largely come from the WhatsApp Business API and click-to-WhatsApp ads, both of which Meta has identified as key growth areas in recent earnings reports
