WhatsApp embraces advertising, promises privacy to remain untouched

The Meta-owned service announced on Monday that it will begin rolling out a suite of new monetisation tools, exclusively within its Updates tab

by e4m Staff
Published: Jun 16, 2025 7:51 PM | 3 min read

WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, is set to introduce its most ambitious advertising features yet, marking a pivotal change for a platform that has fiercely protected its ad-free ethos since inception. The Meta-owned service announced on Monday that it will begin rolling out a suite of new monetisation tools, exclusively within its Updates tab—a move that could reshape the way brands and users interact on the app, while keeping personal chats untouched.

For years, WhatsApp has stood apart from its Meta siblings, Facebook and Instagram, by keeping advertising at bay, limiting promotions to WhatsApp Business messages and small-scale Status ad tests in select markets. This is about to change.

The company revealed it will introduce three new monetisation features, all housed within the Updates tab, which encompasses Channels and Status—features now used by 1.5 billion people daily. The new features include paid channel subscriptions, allowing users to subscribe to premium content from creators and brands; promoted channels in the discovery directory, where brands and creators can pay to have their channels highlighted; and advertisements in Status, WhatsApp’s version of Instagram Stories, opening a new avenue for marketers.

WhatsApp is keen to reassure its vast user base that their core experience will remain unchanged. “We’ve been talking about our plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years and we believe the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work,” the company stated. For users who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging, the company guarantees there will be no changes, as all new features are confined to the Updates tab, which can also be deactivated via settings.

Addressing concerns around privacy, Nikila Srinivasan, Vice President of Product Management at Meta, emphasised, “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.”

She further assured that Meta will never sell or share phone numbers with advertisers, and that personal messages, calls, and group memberships will not influence ad targeting. “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 explained.

While the announcement marks a significant shift, WhatsApp is taking a measured approach to deployment. “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. This gradual rollout aims to give users and regulators time to adapt to the new features.

With over two billion monthly active users, WhatsApp’s move into advertising is poised to have a major impact on digital marketing and brand engagement globally. Industry analysts have long speculated about Meta’s plans to monetise WhatsApp’s massive user base, and this announcement confirms that change is finally here. As WhatsApp steps boldly into the world of advertising, it remains to be seen how users and brands will respond to this new chapter—one that promises innovation without compromising on privacy.