logo
WhatsApp announces its first advertising play, but won't show it to everyone

WhatsApp announces its first advertising play, but won't show it to everyone

Indian Express16-06-2025
It is finally happening. WhatsApp is finally opening up for advertising, though limited to the Status tab. The move is significant because the messaging platform with over 1.5 billion daily users has since the time of its launch, and even after its acquisition by Facebook, maintained that advertising is something it was not very keen on.
In a set of new features announced today, WhatsApp has started rolling out ads in Status, allowing users to find new businesses while browsing through the tab. Alice Newton-Rex, VP product at WhatsApp, said they are also starting channel subscriptions to 'allow users to support their favourite channel by subscribing to receive exclusive updates for a monthly fee' and promoted channels with boosted visibility in the directory.
WhatsApp has over the years had a strong stance against advertising, with founder CEO Jan Koum highlighting how the company did not want to become 'just another ad clearinghouse'. In fact, he was famously quoted as saying that 'when advertising is involved, you, the user, are the product'. In 2014, when Facebook picked up WhatsApp for $19 billion, both Mark Zuckerberg and Koum stuck to their no-ads vision for the messaging platform, with the Facebook CEO even saying he did not think 'ads are the right way to monetise messaging'.
The new feature actually stays true to this commitment as users who don't use Status update will not see any ads. In fact, in 2017, Koum's co-founder Brian Acton had told The Indian Express (WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton: 'Social is not in our vocabulary') that the platform had started 'creating the foundations of how businesses will engage with consumers', calling it 'clean, straightforward, simple and spam-free communication'.
This need for private, personal conversations is and will always be the heart of WhatsApp, Newton-Rex said in a select media briefing. 'Privacy is at the core of everything we do, and it's what continues to drive us as we innovate and look to the future. But we know that if we get the core of private messaging right, then this gives us the opportunity to build more that users want.'
She said this was one of the reasons why WhatsApp introduced the Updates tab, 'as a place for optional experiences,' different from chats inbox. She said they are already seeing 'a lot of admins and businesses use channels and status in creative ways' and this is why WhatsApp wanted to 'give them more tools to help them grow'.
Newton-Rex said WhatsApp 'has been talking about plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years, and we believe that the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work'. With ads in status, she said, people will be able to find a new business and easily start a Whatsapp chat with them about a product or service. 'And for the businesses who rely on WhatsApp, this will help them attract new customers.'
In response to a query, Newton-Rex told indianexpress.com that users 'will be able to take out the ads in the ads manager, just like you do for Facebook or Instagram ads. Now WhatsApp will also be an option'. The ads will come in the middle of status updates, and users who have a lot of these to catch up will potentially see more ads compared to a user who has fewer status updates from contacts. The ads will also be guided by the same principles as other Meta campaigns and will be reviewed before being made live.
Clarifying that this was a feature businesses have been asking for, the WhatsApp product head said: 'There are hundreds of millions of businesses on WhatsApp talking to their customers, and we think that the reason that business has already been so successful is that people just find this a better way to interact with them. So it felt like the next logical step to help them also discover businesses directly within WhatsApp.'
Asked if these WhatsApp ads would be targeted differently, given that the platform was more community driven and not open like rest of the web, Newton-Rex underlined that WhatsApp has a 'limited set of information' and the kinds of signals that will be used are country or city, what channels you follow, what languages you use, and what ads you have interacted with. This, she said, could lead to a lot of local ads too.
With promoted channels, admins will get the ability to promote certain channels in the channels directory to help attract new followers and increase distribution for their content. Channel subscriptions, meanwhile, will give them a new way to share exclusive in the moment updates with their most engaged followers, while earning money right on WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, subscription channels will be available only to select channel partners in the beginning and broadened to more later with the ability to charge a fixed fee through the app stores. Initially, WhatsApp will not charge a fee for this feature.
Nandagopal Rajan writes on technology, gadgets and everything related. He has worked with the India Today Group and Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of Calicut University and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal. ... Read More
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

ChatGPT therapy chats are not private, warns OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
ChatGPT therapy chats are not private, warns OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Hindustan Times

time16 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

ChatGPT therapy chats are not private, warns OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

More people are using ChatGPT like a therapist, but that doesn't mean it's private. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says those kinds of chats don't have the same legal protections you get with real therapists, doctors, or lawyers. OpenAI says deleted chats from Free, Plus, and Pro users are wiped within 30 days unless they're legally required to keep them for "legal or security reasons."(AP) Altman told podcaster Theo Von, 'So if you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there's like a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that, and I think that's very screwed up.' He went on, 'Right now, if you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor about those problems, there's like legal privilege for it — there's doctor-patient confidentiality, there's legal confidentiality,' according to Business Insider report. 'We haven't figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT.' Altman said there should be the 'same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist' and that it should be 'addressed with some urgency.' Also Read: 'Will AI replace lawyers? Law intern asks to use ChatGPT for witness analysis, gets hard copies instead Youngsters turning to ChatGPT for therapy He said a growing number of people — especially younger users — are turning to ChatGPT for therapy, life advice, or help with relationships. Altman said, 'No one had to think about that even a year ago, and now I think it's this huge issue of like, 'How are we gonna treat the laws around this?'' Unlike end-to-end encrypted apps like WhatsApp or Signal, OpenAI can read your conversations with ChatGPT. Employees sometimes look at chats to improve the AI or to watch for misuse. OpenAI says deleted chats from Free, Plus, and Pro users are wiped within 30 days unless they're legally required to keep them for "legal or security reasons." Back in June, The New York Times and other media outlets asked a court to force OpenAI to save all user chats, even deleted ones, as part of a copyright lawsuit. OpenAI is now appealing that court order.

Meta to stop political ads in European Union by October, blames bloc's new rules
Meta to stop political ads in European Union by October, blames bloc's new rules

Hindustan Times

timean hour ago

  • Hindustan Times

Meta to stop political ads in European Union by October, blames bloc's new rules

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Friday that it will stop all political advertising in the European Union by October, blaming legal uncertainty over new rules designed to increase transparency in election campaigns. Meta said the rules introduce 'significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties. The social media giant said in a blog post that it will no longer allow ads for political, electoral and social issues on its platforms, which also include Threads, starting in early October. The company said it was making the decision because of the 27-nation EU's 'unworkable' Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulations. The rules introduce 'significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties," Meta said. It's not the first Big Tech company to make such a move. Google said last year that it would stop serving EU users political ads before the rules take effect, in an announcement that cited similar reasons. Under the regulations, which are set to take effect on Oct 10, platforms will have to label political ads, disclosing who paid for them, and what campaign, referendum or legislative process they're connected to. Ads will have to be preserved in a database, and they can only be targeted to users under strict conditions. The rules introduce 'significant, additional obligations to our processes and systems that create an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU,' Meta said. Violations can be hit with fines worth up to 6% of a company's annual global revenue. The rules are part of Brussels' wider efforts to counter foreign influence and manipulation in elections, and dovetail with the bloc's other regulations designed to protect citizens' privacy and hold platforms more accountable for internet users' online safety. But those moves clash with President Donald Trump's administration, which has lashed out at the EU's digital rulemaking. Meta said its decision won't affect users who want to debate politics on its platforms or prevent politicians, candidates and officer holders from "sharing political content organically". 'They just won't be able to amplify this through paid advertising,' it said. (AP) SCY SCY

TVS Motor board to consider raising funds next week
TVS Motor board to consider raising funds next week

Economic Times

time4 hours ago

  • Economic Times

TVS Motor board to consider raising funds next week

TVS Motor Company on Friday said its board will next week consider and approve raising of funds via the issue of securities on a private placement basis. ADVERTISEMENT The company, at its board meeting scheduled to be held on July 31, 2025, proposes to consider and approve a proposal to raise funds by issuing non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis in one or more tranches/series over a period of time, it said in a regulatory shares ended 0.8 per cent down at Rs 2,774.85 apiece on BSE. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store