Meta has announced that WhatsApp will now start showing ads and charging subscription fees in the ‘Updates’ section of the app.
Here’s what changes users can expect to see in the coming weeks:
- Ads are coming and they will only show up in the ‘Updates’ tab (for now).
- WhatsApp has assured users that personal messaging, including messages, calls, and statuses, remain end-to-end encrypted and will not be used to target ads.
- While these ads won’t use your message contents, they will track your country, city, language, the channels you follow, and how you engage with other ads.
- If you’ve linked WhatsApp to Facebook or Instagram, your ads will be even more personal.
- Businesses can now pay to promote their channels, and even charge monthly fees to followers for “extra content.”
- WhatsApp will take a 10% cut of that fee, and there may be app store fees on top of that too.
- Firms will now also be able to post “status update ads” — similar to Instagram stories — that can open into chats.
One user told the Laudium Sun, “We trusted WhatsApp because it wasn’t loud, messy, or full of adverts. Now they’re stuffing it with paid features we never asked for. It also doesn’t help that some features, like the Meta AI button, can’t be removed.”
WhatsApp’s head, Will Cathcart, said that if you only use WhatsApp for chatting, you won’t see these ads — and no one is being forced to follow channels.
Another user added, “Today it’s ads in Updates. Tomorrow it’s ‘sponsored messages’ in our family group.”