WhatsApp introduces first major advertising features
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.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms, WhatsApp has maintained minimal advertising since Meta acquired it in 2014.
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.
Until now, the platform's advertising consisted primarily of WhatsApp Business promotional messages to opted-in customers and some limited Status ad testing in select markets.
The messaging app has no display ads in chat feeds or conversations.
The company said it will roll out three new monetization features exclusively within its Updates tab, which houses both Channels and Status features used by 1.5 billion people daily and became widely available last year.
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 Updates tab that can be deactivated in the settings.
"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," WhatsApp said.
The new features include paid channel subscriptions, promoted channels in the Discovery directory, and advertisements within Status, WhatsApp's version of Instagram Stories.
WhatsApp emphasized that the new advertising features are designed with privacy safeguards.
"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.
The company committed to never selling or sharing phone numbers to advertisers and said 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 said.
The introduction of advertising represents Meta's effort to monetize WhatsApp's massive user base of over two billion monthly active users.
Industry analysts have long speculated that Meta would eventually bring advertising to WhatsApp given its scale and engagement rates.
The timeline for these features was not specified in the announcement.
"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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
17 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Watches of Switzerland hits record revenue as UK recovers and US booms
The once-unstoppable Watches of Switzerland Group has been through a few challenging periods lately but on Thursday it reported 'record revenue' in its latest year driven by 'an improved H2 trading performance [with] continued excellent strategic and operational progress'. There were a mix of numbers in the report for the year to April with some positive and some negative, so let's look at those first. Group revenue increased by 7%, or 8% at constant currency (CCY), to reach £1.652 billion. That divided into a 2% rise in the UK and Europe to £866 million and a 14% rise (or 16% CCY) in the US to £786 million. The company had a number of exceptional costs to deal with but with those factored out, adjusted EBITDA was up 8% at £192 million and adjusted EBT increased 11% to £150, million. Meanwhile, operating profit fell 5% to £114 million and statutory profit before tax was down 18% at £76 million. As mentioned, the performance improved a lot in the second half with group revenue up 12% compared to 4% in H1 on a CCY basis. Luxury watches revenue increased 1% reported in the year and 2% CCY with demand for its key brands outstripping supply in both the US and UK markets. Its Certified Pre-Owned and vintage is performing strongly, with Rolex Certified Pre-Owned becoming the Group's second largest luxury watch brand equivalent. Particularly impressive was the increase in luxury jewellery revenue which was up 106% (or 108% CCY), boosted by the acquisition of Roberto Coin Inc. Luxury branded jewellery delivered double-digit growth. Its pre-IFRS 16 guidance for FY26, which is a 53-week year, is based on the current US tariff rate of 10% maintained beyond the 90-day pause and currently announced margin changes from brand partners in response to the 10% tariffs remaining in place. As it stands today, the 10% tariff on imported goods from Switzerland has led some of its brand partners to put through mid-single-digit price increases in the US, alongside reducing their authorised distribution network's margin percentage. It expects CCY revenue growth between 6% and 10%. But the outcome of US tariff developments remains uncertain so that guidance could always change. Tariffs uncertainty aside, CEO Brian Duffy was upbeat: 'I am proud of the strong performance our team has delivered, underpinned by a significant trading improvement in H2. Our US business has continued its excellent momentum, surpassing $1 billion revenue for the first time, bolstered by the acquisition of Roberto Coin Inc. The UK has returned to growth as trading conditions have stabilised. Our performance reflects our differentiated business model, with our scale and leadership in our chosen markets, supported by long-standing, collaborative partnerships with world-leading brands across luxury watches and luxury branded jewellery underpinning sustained growth.' He said it was a busy year for the group as it 'continued to deliver on our strategy at pace'. A notable highlight was the opening of the new flagship Rolex boutique on Old Bond Street, London, 'which is a great example of how we combine our retailing excellence and operational expertise to deliver a fantastic project for our brand partners and clients. We also delivered three key Rolex projects in the US across Texas, Florida and Atlanta, opened a new Patek Philippe room in Connecticut, and executed a range of additional showroom openings, expansions and upgrades'. Duffy added that the company is 'increasingly excited about the possibilities for our recently acquired Roberto Coin business in North America. Not only has it continued to trade well since acquisition, we see growing potential for this well-recognised brand in the large and growing US luxury branded jewellery market. We are pleased to have launched a marketing campaign featuring Dakota Johnson as a global brand ambassador and expect this and other pipeline projects to underpin our growth ambitions for the brand, including the opening of three mono-brand boutiques'. He's also encouraged by the strong performance of the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in both the UK and US, and by the sustained growth in its pre-owned business more generally. He said: 'As we look ahead, whilst we are of course remaining mindful of the broader macroeconomic and consumer environment, including potential US tariff changes, we remain confident in the strength of our diversified business model, our strong pipeline of showroom openings and growth projects, and the resilience of the luxury watch and luxury branded jewellery categories.'
Mediapart
a day ago
- Mediapart
French couple face death penalty in Iran on spying charges
The cookies and similar technologies we use on Mediapart are of different natures and allow us to pursue different purposes. Some are necessary for the functioning of the site and the mobile application (you cannot refuse them). Others are optional but help to facilitate your experience as a reader and in some way support Mediapart. You can refuse or accept them below, depending on their purpose. Do you agree that Mediapart uses cookies or similar technologies for the following purposes ? You can make your choice, for each category, by enabling or disabling the switch button. Mandatory for the operation of the site or application Subscriber login, anonymized audience measurement, sending of push notifications, tracking of failures, highlighting of our services these tools are necessary to track the activity of our services and their proper functioning. read more Here are the various cookies and similar technologies included in this category : Authentication cookies : subscriber login. : subscriber login. AT Internet : anonymized audience measurement : anonymized audience measurement Display of multimedia editorial content : videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, INA), social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter), documents (Scribd, Document Cloud, Slideshare), sounds (SoundCloud, Spotify, Deezer), maps (Google Maps, Mapbox, CartoDB, uMap), infographics (Highcharts, GitHub, Datawrapper, Flourish, Infogram, ThingLink, jQuery, Google Fonts, Bootstrap), live blogs (24liveblog, CoverItLive), media integration support in Journal and Club publications (Embedly). : videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, INA), social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter), documents (Scribd, Document Cloud, Slideshare), sounds (SoundCloud, Spotify, Deezer), maps (Google Maps, Mapbox, CartoDB, uMap), infographics (Highcharts, GitHub, Datawrapper, Flourish, Infogram, ThingLink, jQuery, Google Fonts, Bootstrap), live blogs (24liveblog, CoverItLive), media integration support in Journal and Club publications (Embedly). Typeform : optional questionnaires to collect readers opinions on our digital products. : optional questionnaires to collect readers opinions on our digital products. Datadog (only on the website) : technical indicators and load balancing. : technical indicators and load balancing. Selligent (only on the website) : communication with the subscriber, highlighting of services, offers and benefits. : communication with the subscriber, highlighting of services, offers and benefits. Batch (only on the app) : sending push notifications and in-app messages. : sending push notifications and in-app messages. Firebase Cloud Messaging (only on app) : required for push notifications to work on Android. : required for push notifications to work on Android. Microsoft App Center (only on app) : app update and failure tracking system. Statistics These tools allow us to collect statistics on site and mobile application traffic to understand usage, detect possible problems and optimize the ergonomics of our products. read more These are the third-party tools included in this category : AT Internet : audience measurement related to subscriber ID. : audience measurement related to subscriber ID. CrazyEggs (only on website) : customer journey analysis. : customer journey analysis. Nonli (only on website) : helps our social network team to publish our contents on social networks. : helps our social network team to publish our contents on social networks. Qiota (available only on the website) : management of the datawall system. Advertising retargeting There is no advertising on Mediapart. But we do promote our content and services on other sites and social networks. For this, we use technologies made available by some advertising companies. read more These are the third-party tools included in this category : Facebook (only on the website) : audience targeting on social networks to promote Mediapart. Content Access Management We use the Qiota service from Opper Marketing Suite to configure the activation of a datawall on certain content (available only on the website). This system, intended for non-subscribed users, requires the input of an email address to access the relevant content. By providing this information, the user consents to its collection, storage, and use for statistical purposes. In accordance with the applicable regulations, users have the right to access, rectify, and delete their data, which they can exercise by contacting dpo@ Save and close
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Fashion Network
Watches of Switzerland hits record revenue as UK recovers and US booms
The once-unstoppable Watches of Switzerland Group has been through a few challenging periods lately but on Thursday it reported 'record revenue' in its latest year driven by 'an improved H2 trading performance [with] continued excellent strategic and operational progress'. There were a mix of numbers in the report for the year to April with some positive and some negative, so let's look at those first. Group revenue increased by 7%, or 8% at constant currency (CCY), to reach £1.652 billion. That divided into a 2% rise in the UK and Europe to £866 million and a 14% rise (or 16% CCY) in the US to £786 million. The company had a number of exceptional costs to deal with but with those factored out, adjusted EBITDA was up 8% at £192 million and adjusted EBT increased 11% to £150, million. Meanwhile, operating profit fell 5% to £114 million and statutory profit before tax was down 18% at £76 million. As mentioned, the performance improved a lot in the second half with group revenue up 12% compared to 4% in H1 on a CCY basis. Luxury watches revenue increased 1% reported in the year and 2% CCY with demand for its key brands outstripping supply in both the US and UK markets. Its Certified Pre-Owned and vintage is performing strongly, with Rolex Certified Pre-Owned becoming the Group's second largest luxury watch brand equivalent. Particularly impressive was the increase in luxury jewellery revenue which was up 106% (or 108% CCY), boosted by the acquisition of Roberto Coin Inc. Luxury branded jewellery delivered double-digit growth. Its pre-IFRS 16 guidance for FY26, which is a 53-week year, is based on the current US tariff rate of 10% maintained beyond the 90-day pause and currently announced margin changes from brand partners in response to the 10% tariffs remaining in place. As it stands today, the 10% tariff on imported goods from Switzerland has led some of its brand partners to put through mid-single-digit price increases in the US, alongside reducing their authorised distribution network's margin percentage. It expects CCY revenue growth between 6% and 10%. But the outcome of US tariff developments remains uncertain so that guidance could always change. Tariffs uncertainty aside, CEO Brian Duffy was upbeat: 'I am proud of the strong performance our team has delivered, underpinned by a significant trading improvement in H2. Our US business has continued its excellent momentum, surpassing $1 billion revenue for the first time, bolstered by the acquisition of Roberto Coin Inc. The UK has returned to growth as trading conditions have stabilised. Our performance reflects our differentiated business model, with our scale and leadership in our chosen markets, supported by long-standing, collaborative partnerships with world-leading brands across luxury watches and luxury branded jewellery underpinning sustained growth.' He said it was a busy year for the group as it 'continued to deliver on our strategy at pace'. A notable highlight was the opening of the new flagship Rolex boutique on Old Bond Street, London, 'which is a great example of how we combine our retailing excellence and operational expertise to deliver a fantastic project for our brand partners and clients. We also delivered three key Rolex projects in the US across Texas, Florida and Atlanta, opened a new Patek Philippe room in Connecticut, and executed a range of additional showroom openings, expansions and upgrades'. Duffy added that the company is 'increasingly excited about the possibilities for our recently acquired Roberto Coin business in North America. Not only has it continued to trade well since acquisition, we see growing potential for this well-recognised brand in the large and growing US luxury branded jewellery market. We are pleased to have launched a marketing campaign featuring Dakota Johnson as a global brand ambassador and expect this and other pipeline projects to underpin our growth ambitions for the brand, including the opening of three mono-brand boutiques'. He's also encouraged by the strong performance of the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme in both the UK and US, and by the sustained growth in its pre-owned business more generally. He said: 'As we look ahead, whilst we are of course remaining mindful of the broader macroeconomic and consumer environment, including potential US tariff changes, we remain confident in the strength of our diversified business model, our strong pipeline of showroom openings and growth projects, and the resilience of the luxury watch and luxury branded jewellery categories.'
