The move is a sensitive one for WhatsApp, whose chief firmly denied a report in 2023 that said the Meta-owned app was exploring advertisements as it sought to boost revenue.
Users and regulators have kept a close watch on whether the social media giant would seek to monetize an app that was primarily used to chat with friends and family, and was appreciated for its privacy.
The messaging app has no display ads in chat feeds or conversations.
The company stressed that users who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging will see no changes to their experience, as all new features are confined to the separate Updates tab.
The new features include paid channel subscriptions, promoted channels in the Discovery directory, and advertisements within Status, WhatsApp’s version of Instagram Stories.
“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,“ Nikila Srinivasan, vice president of product management at Meta, told reporters.
“To show ads in Status or Channels, we’re going to use basic information like your country or city, your device language and your activity in the Updates tab,“ Srinivasan said.
Industry analysts have long speculated that Meta would eventually bring advertising to WhatsApp given its scale and engagement rates.
“They’re going to be rolling out slowly over the next few months, so it might be a while until you see them in your countries,“ Srinivasan said.
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