WhatsApp has taken a big step — one we’ve been expecting for years. For the first time since it launched in 2009, the world’s most popular messaging app will start running ads.

And it’s already happening. Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, says ads are now rolling out inside the “Updates” tab — the section where you post Status updates or follow Channels of interest. Crucially, Meta says ads will not be visible in personal conversations. Chat messages and group messages will remain ad-free, and Meta says ads will be positioned to avoid interrupting direct conversations.

Around 1.5 billion people check the Updates tab every day, making it a prime real estate for ad impressions. If you’re someone who rarely opens that tab, you might not even notice the change. But for those of you who use Status and Channels often, you’ll start seeing commercials soon.

Three Types of Ads

There are three formats that WhatsApp’s new ad model revolves around.

First, the Status section — where you can share temporary posts like photos, videos, or texts — will now also show ads from businesses. These ads will appear alongside your friends’ statuses and blend in with the rest of the experience. But instead of your friends’ updates disappearing, you’ll start seeing product promotions. You can message the advertiser directly from the ad, opening a new business-to-consumer channel.

Second, there are promoted Channels. As Meta says, these will allow admins to pay to boost their Channel’s visibility within the app. It’s a new way for organizations, content creators, and brands to build audiences without relying on external promotion.

The third format introduces a subscription model. Businesses can now offer exclusive updates behind a paywall in paid Channels. For example, a cooking page could charge a small monthly fee for premium recipes and alerts. Meta sees this as a new way for creators to monetize their content — and a new revenue stream for WhatsApp.

All of this is part of a larger push to make WhatsApp more business-friendly. In a briefing, Alice Newton Rex, VP of Product at WhatsApp, called the move a “natural evolution” of the app, given that the Business Platform and click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook and Instagram have already grown to scale.

Privacy promises and Data Use

Given that WhatsApp is synonymous with security and privacy, the move to add ads raised a lot of questions. Meta insists that privacy remains protected, however.

Ads will be targeted based only on general user data — like your country, age, language settings, and city. WhatsApp will not use the contents of your messages to advertise to you. Instead, it will rely on your behavior in Status and Channels. What you follow in the app, how you engage with content, and whether you click on ads — all of this will shape the ads you see.

Plus, users who connect WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Center — an optional feature — can allow their cross-platform ad preferences to carry over. So, activity on Facebook or Instagram can influence your WhatsApp experience. The feature is off by default and can be removed anytime.

You can also control your ad preferences in WhatsApp. You can see why a specific ad was shown to you, hide ads, or report them. You can also block certain advertisers.

Until now, WhatsApp’s main source of revenue was its WhatsApp Business Platform and Facebook/Instagram ads that connected to a WhatsApp thread. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said that business messaging is growing rapidly — but he said that WhatsApp could drive even more revenue with its massive user base.

It’s not the only platform to go in this direction. Discord added ads in 2024. Reddit has also expanded its ad offering as it looks to grow — a move that helped the company post its first-ever profitable quarter. Nearly all of the biggest social media companies have relied heavily on advertising, so WhatsApp’s move follows the trend.

WhatsApp has long promised to remain ad-free. But with 98% of Meta’s revenue coming from advertising and $16 billion spent acquiring WhatsApp back in 2014, the company is eager to monetize the platform.

For most users, the change probably won’t affect them much — at least for now. But the door is open. And with Meta’s desire to monetize WhatsApp, these changes are just the beginning of something much larger.