WhatsApp is finally getting ads.
The messaging platform has long been famous for being clear of many of the additions that are present both on other messaging platforms and parent company Meta’s other products.
But now it will introduce marketing messages in the Status part of the app, which it says is used by 1.5 billion people each day.
It marks a major change of policy for an app that has long been known for its approach both to advertising and its hard commitment to privacy.
In keeping with that latter commitment, advertisers will not be able to use any data on messages or who sends them. But they will be able to target users on the basis of some personal data, such as what language they use and where they are.
WhatsApp’s refusal to include ads has been part of the company since it was first founded in 2009. In its early years, that commitment was such that it required users to pay a small fee for access, which was unusual even at the time.
In 2014, the app was bought by Facebook, the parent company that has since changed its name to Meta, and over the years that followed its founders were no longer associated with the company. Both changes have led to questions over whether Meta – famous for its advertising technology – would use the messaging app as a marketing platform.
WhatsApp had already introduced some business features. Companies can pay for ads on Instagram and Facebook that offer the option to click to message the business, for instance.
But the new change marks the first time that advertising will appear directly within the app itself.
WhatsApp’s Status feature has been in place since 2017. It is intended to make the app something like a more traditional social network, now allowing users to post a story in the same way they might on Instagram.
Advertising will appear alongside those posts from friends. But they will not appear in message threads, which will remain entirely private, the company assured users.
