WhatsApp has announced the global rollout of three new advertising features designed to monetise the platform without compromising user privacy.
According to the Meta-owned company, the ads will not appear in users’ private chats, and the content of encrypted messages will not be used to target users. Instead, ad suggestions will be based on users’ country, city, language, interactions with other ads, and channels they follow. Those who link their WhatsApp accounts to Facebook or Instagram may receive more personalised content.
The new ad features will be hosted in the ‘Updates’ tab at the bottom of the app, separate from private messages.
“We have stories on Instagram and stories on WhatsApp, and we now have a way for businesses to promote themselves in both, and we think that’s a good thing,” said WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart, describing the development as a “natural extension of messaging services.”
With 1.5 billion global users, WhatsApp says businesses with channels can now promote ads within Updates to grow followers and even charge for premium content. WhatsApp will eventually take a 10% cut from such subscription fees, with possible extra charges from app stores depending on business size.
Companies will also be allowed to run ads as status updates similar to Instagram Stories that link directly to chat threads.
Social media analyst Matt Navarra commented that Meta is “laying the foundation for WhatsApp to finally become a monetisable platform at scale.” However, he warned that “monetising the periphery” while keeping core messaging private could be risky, especially in markets like the UK and Europe, where WhatsApp is seen primarily as a chat tool.
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“Any perception that the app is becoming noisy or Facebook-ified will spark backlash,” he added.
WhatsApp recently drew criticism over a permanent button for Meta’s AI tool, which cannot be removed. Cathcart responded: “I want to stress this won’t affect your inbox. If you’re only using WhatsApp for messaging, you’re not going to see this.”
He acknowledged that the Update section is “not particularly popular” in the UK but is more widely used in other regions. Addressing user concerns, he added: “You can’t delete the channels button, you can’t delete the Updates button, you can’t delete the calls button. We also don’t want to have a service that has lots of settings… that’s complexity too.”
Navarra concluded: “The feed is dying, public sharing is down, people are retreating into DMs and Stories in small groups. Meta’s trying to turn WhatsApp into a platform without users realising it, and if they move too fast or it starts to feel like another ad network, people might disengage or worse, distrust the app.”
