WhatsApp is taking a major leap into advertising, introducing its most extensive monetization tools to date—while assuring users that their private messaging experience will remain untouched.
In a move that marks a significant shift for the Meta-owned platform, WhatsApp revealed plans to begin rolling out ads and paid features within its Updates tab, which includes Status and Channels. This section, used by 1.5 billion people daily, will be the sole space affected by the changes.
Users who rely on WhatsApp solely for private messaging won’t notice anything different. The company emphasized that personal chats, calls, and group messages will continue to be end-to-end encrypted and entirely free from ads.
“I want to be really clear about one thing: Your personal messages, calls and statuses will remain end-to-end encrypted. This means no one, not even us, can see or hear them, and they cannot be used for ads,” said Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s vice president of product management.
WhatsApp, which has largely remained ad-free since its acquisition by Meta in 2014, will now introduce three new features: paid subscriptions for select Channels, promoted Channels within the Discovery feed, and Status ads—akin to Instagram Stories.
The company said the ads will rely on minimal data, such as users’ location, device language, and activity within the Updates tab. It also committed to never sharing phone numbers or chat data with advertisers.
“We’ve been talking about our plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years, and we believe the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work,” WhatsApp stated.
There’s no exact launch date yet, but Srinivasan said the rollout will be gradual and could take several months to reach all regions.