Meta to introduce ads on WhatsApp as US tech giant reverses ‘no ads’ stance on world’s most popular messaging app
16 June 2025, 20:15
Meta is to introduce advertising to WhatsApp in push for new revenue - reversing their 'no ads stance'.
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The Big Tech giant is hoping to cash in on the world's most popular messaging service.
WhatsApp announced on Monday that it would introduce the new feature globally over the next few months.
The ads will display in the Status section of WhatsApp, which is visible through the Updates tab on the left of the app screen - this keeps them separate from the main chat messaging area.
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“This was a longtime request that we had from businesses, and they care about preserving people’s personal spaces,” Nikila Srinivasan, vice-president of business messaging at WhatsApp, told the Financial Times.
Prior to WhatsApp being acquired for $19bn in 2014, the Big Tech company's co-founder Brian Acton had positioned “No ads! No games! No gimmicks!” as the company mantra.
The decision to end this long-standing position was due to there now being "a space" for advertising that would not clash with personal messages.
Srinivasan said: "People want to use WhatsApp for more than messaging close friends and family, and looking back a year and a half ago, that is part of the reason we introduced this Updates tab . . . If you’re someone that uses WhatsApp for personal messaging and you never come to this tab, you won’t see [advertising]."
In April, Meta had better than expected results - dismissing investor concerns that Donald Trump's tariffs policy and associated economic uncertainty could impact Meta's advertising business.
Rolling out advertising on WhatsApp will help Meta boost its revenues further - allowing the US tech giant to monetise one of its few platforms still devoid of marketing.
WhatsApp will introduce the ability for users to subscribe to Channels - exclusive content from creators, for a monthly fee.
Small businesses or brands can pay to be featured in a feed of different accounts.
WhatsApp said messages, calls and status would remain end-to-end encrypted, which means that only the sender and receiver are able to access the content.
The company said it would use basic information including the user's location, device language, which channels they are following and how they use marketing, to determine the type of adverts to show users.
