WhatsApp is rolling out ads on parts of the popular Meta-owned social media and messaging platform, the company said Monday in an unveiling that heavily stressed user privacy will remain protected.
“Like everything we do at WhatsApp, we’ve built these features in the most private way possible,” WhatsApp developers wrote in a blog post explaining the new feature.
“No one outside of the chat, not even WhatsApp, can see, hear or share personal messages, calls or statuses,” they added. “This means that none of this info can be used to show people ads.”
The advertisements will appear on the messaging app’s “updates” tab in status and channel feeds and will not affect users who only use the program for direct chats and calls, according to the company.
“The personal messaging experience on WhatsApp isn’t changing, and personal messages, calls and statuses are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be used to show ads,” developers reiterated.
More than 1.5 billion people click on the WhatsApp update tab each day, data shows. This creates a potentially lucrative, previously untapped revenue stream for Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram, among other prominent platforms.
“We’re encouraged by the enthusiasm and also want to help admins, organizations and businesses grow on WhatsApp,” the company said.
Ads may be targeted based on a user’s general location, age, activities shared in their status posts and the channels they follow.
WhatsApp also informed users that information they opt to share across Meta platforms may also be used, it noted.
