Meta finally brings ads to WhatsApp
But the ads won’t be in your personal chats – at least not yet.
When Facebook (now Meta) acquired WhatsApp over a decade ago, it promised to keep the platform private and ad-free. But promises, it seems, don’t last forever.
On Monday, the company confirmed that ads are finally coming to WhatsApp. But before you panic and use your favorite swear words, these ads won’t be in your personal chats – at least not yet.
If you mainly use WhatsApp for personal messaging with friends and family and rarely venture into the "Updates" tab, then honestly, you might not notice much of a change. Meta says that your core messaging experience will remain untouched.
However, if you're someone who checks Status updates regularly or follows a lot of Channels, then you'll definitely start seeing ads and new monetization options. WhatsApp says they'll use basic info like your country, language, and which Channels you follow to serve you relevant ads.
Naturally, privacy concerns are bubbling. But Meta says these ads will be targeted using only basic info, like your device type, location, language, and the channels you follow. If you’ve opted into Meta’s Accounts Center, your broader ad preferences apply too. Meta also insists it won’t scan your chats or share your phone number with advertisers.
Still, the cultural shift is undeniable. WhatsApp’s founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, were famously anti-ads. Their exits from Meta reportedly stemmed from growing pressure to make the app more commercially viable. Now, a decade later, Meta is doing just that.
Kelechi Edeh
The thing is, this move didn’t come out of nowhere. Meta has been laying the groundwork for years by allowing businesses to run click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook and Instagram to funnel users into chats. Plus, WhatsApp was already making money through WhatsApp’s business tools, reportedly pulling in between $500 million and $1 billion annually.
And for a company that made over $160 billion in ad revenue alone last year, baking ads directly into a platform with 3 billion users was always just a matter of time.
Whether this move will improve WhatsApp or chip away at what made it beloved in the first place — simplicity, privacy, no distractions — is still up for debate.
Kelechi Edeh
