WhatsApp is getting ads soon. Meta says these ads will show up in the Status feature, similar to Instagram Stories and Facebook Reels.
The Status feature is in the Updates tab on WhatsApp. It’s where users share messages, photos, voice notes, or clips that disappear after a while. Now, ads will be added to this section.
According to The Verge, Meta has been planning to add ads to WhatsApp for years. The founders of WhatsApp were against this idea, and Meta even changed its mind in 2020. But in 2023, Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said the company was looking for ways to add ads.
Meta says it will try to make ads match users’ interests. It will use limited user data, including country, city, and phone number, to do this. Users can control ad settings from the Accounts Center.
On its website, Meta says it has been trying to create a business that doesn’t interfere with users’ private chats. The company thinks the Updates tab is the right place for ads. Meta promises it won’t sell or share users’ phone numbers with advertisers. It also won’t use conversation history or group chat data for ads.
Meta will also add a feature to boost ad visibility in the Explore tab on WhatsApp. Users can follow different channels and see more ads.