After years of providing free services without any bells attached, WhatsApp is now going to start showing ads on the popular chat app.
To be clear, users will only see ads on the Status screen — the app’s take on Instagram’s Stories.
So just like you see an ad after watching a few stories on Instagram, you will see ads on WhatsApp after you’ve scrolled through a few Status updates.
The company said that its ad mechanism uses signals like users’ country or city, language, and the channels they’re following, as well as data from ads that users interact with.
Meta said it is not using personally identifiable data, such as users’ phone numbers, messages, calls, and groups to serve targeted ads.
If a user has added their WhatsApp account to Meta’s Account Center, the company will use their Account preferences to show ads.
So far, WhatsApp has generated revenue via its WhatsApp Business platform and click-to-WhatsApp ads.
WhatsApp said ads and these features will roll out globally in the coming months.