 "A woman stands next to a logo of messaging application Whatsapp during a Meta conference in Mumbai, India, September 20, 2023. File Image/Reuters")
More than a decade after being acquired by Facebook (now Meta), WhatsApp is stepping back from its roots.
The platform, which had long maintained a clean interface without advertising, is now integrating ads for the first time.
On Monday (June 16, 2025), Meta confirmed that promotional content would be introduced on the messaging service, marking a critical moment in the app’s evolution.
The rollout does not interfere with private communications. Instead, the advertising will be confined to a specific part of the app — the Updates tab — where users typically view status posts and browse channel content.
Meta believes this is the most appropriate location to trial revenue-generating features without disrupting the app’s core function of personal messaging.
“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,” Meta stated in its announcement.
This development concludes years of internal debate within Meta and reverses the original vision laid out by WhatsApp’s creators.
Where the ads will appear: The Updates tab explained
The Updates tab, positioned at the bottom of the app interface, allows users to post and view ephemeral content similar to Instagram’s Stories. This section, accessed by 1.5 billion people globally every day, will now feature status advertisements and channel promotions that appear alongside organic posts.
According to Meta, promotional materials will appear between users’ regular status updates, enabling businesses to reach audiences without interrupting personal conversations.
Clicking on some of these status ads will open a direct chat window with the advertising brand, offering immediate interaction.
Additionally, the Updates section includes channels — a tool introduced in mid-2023. These are used by public figures, media organisations and brands to broadcast information to followers.
As part of the monetisation effort, these channels can now be boosted via paid promotions to reach more users when they are searched or discovered.
The app will also offer subscriptions within channels, enabling administrators to share exclusive updates with paying followers.
While this service is currently free from Meta’s commission, the company plans to take 10 per cent of the subscription fees in the future. These charges would be in addition to any platform fees from Google or Apple’s app stores.
How this will change user experience
WhatsApp’s new advertising strategy will employ minimal user information to deliver tailored promotions. Unlike Meta’s other platforms — such as Facebook and Instagram — where targeting can be highly specific, WhatsApp’s approach will rely on more general data points.
“We will use very basic information,” said Nikila Srinivasan last week, Meta’s head of product for business messaging, “including a person’s country, city, device, language and data like who they follow or how they interact with ads.”
In addition, those who voluntarily link WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Centre will enable more refined targeting using their preferences and activities across other Meta services.
“For people that have chosen to add WhatsApp to Accounts Center, we’ll also use your ad preferences and info from across your Meta accounts,” Meta explained.
However, the company pointed out that encrypted communications remain untouched.
Private chats, voice calls, group messages, and message content will not be accessed for ad targeting purposes. Meta reassured users that phone numbers will not be sold or shared with advertisers under any circumstances.
This segmentation between promotional content and personal messaging is designed to ensure users who use WhatsApp only for communication see no changes in their experience.
“These new features will appear only on the Updates tab, away from your personal chats. This means if you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones there is no change to your experience at all,” the company reiterated.
Why this was a long-time coming
The debut of advertising on WhatsApp marks a culmination of Meta’s long-term objective to monetise the platform more effectively.
Meta’s other apps have long been integrated with business tools and ad systems, but WhatsApp, despite its massive user base, has remained relatively underutilised in this regard.
Meta has already found success with click-to-message ads on Facebook and Instagram, which lead users into WhatsApp chats with businesses. The new advertising rollout allows such engagement to now begin directly within WhatsApp.
According to CNBC, Mark Zuckerberg has described messaging between businesses and consumers as the “next pillar” of Meta’s commercial strategy.
In an April earnings call, he noted that WhatsApp serves more than 3 billion users every month, including over 100 million in the US, and that the app’s business potential is growing rapidly.
Although Meta doesn’t disclose WhatsApp’s revenue figures, external analysts estimate it has generated between $500 million to $1 billion annually through business tools.
These include APIs and services that enable companies to conduct customer support, send alerts, and confirm transactions via WhatsApp.
The addition of advertisements and subscriptions brings WhatsApp closer in structure to Facebook and Instagram, where ads are the backbone of income.
What about Whatsapp’s roots
The introduction of advertisements is particularly notable given WhatsApp’s founding philosophy.
Co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton had firmly opposed any form of advertising, believing it would compromise user experience and trust. Their opposition to monetisation through ads contributed to their eventual departure from Meta.
A blog post from 2012 by Koum has resurfaced in light of the recent changes. In it, he wrote: “We want WhatsApp to be the product that keeps you awake… and that you reach for in the morning. No one jumps up from a nap and runs to see an advertisement.”
He further added: “Remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product.”
The 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion had raised concerns among users and privacy advocates alike, who feared that Meta would eventually commercialise the service. Eleven years later, those concerns appear prescient.
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With inputs from agencies