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WhatsApp is getting ads

Meta has announced that WhatsApp Messenger will now show ads. Back in 2012, WhatsApps founders Brian Acton, and Jan Koum said they were firmly against ads.

Koum wrote that "Remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product". You can still find the article on WhatsApp's website. Things changed when Meta acquired WhatsApp for $22 Billion, in 2014.

Meta is all about ads, do you know how much it earned as advertising revenue in 2024? $160 Billion. Unsurprisingly, the company wanted to integrate ads in WhatsApp a long time ago, but its plans failed multiple times. When Facebook planned to monetize WhatsApp, Acton stood against it. He left the company in 2017 to start a nonprofit, which he cofounded with Moxie Marlinspike. You may have heard about the app, it's called Signal, yes, that Signal! Meta kept trying to bring ads to WhatsApp, and actually scrapped the plan to sell ads in 2020.

But, now it has finally decided to monetize WhatsApp. A post on WhatsApp's blog explains how the ads will appear. WhatsApp will display Ads in Status, which can be accessed from the Updates tab. The company says this will help users find new businesses and start a conversation with them about a product/service they were advertising. Users will also see sponsored channels, aka Promoted Channels.

Ads in WhatsApp Status

WhatsApp ads are built with privacy in mind, and personal messages, calls, and statuses remain end-to-end encrypted to protect the privacy of users. Their words, not mine! The app will use limited information such as the Country or City a user is located in, their language, the channels they are following, and how you interact with ads, to show you ads in Status or Channels. So it sounds like the ads will be based on local trends, like how YouTube does?

Meta says it won't sell or share your phone number to advertisers, and also states that it does not use personal messages, calls or groups that a user is in to determine the ads they might see. Well, at least the ads don't appear in chats. It's unclear whether one can opt out of the experience.

Well, it's never too late to switch, and the best alternative for WhatsApp is Signal. The app is free, open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and is available for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and macOS.

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