Meta is looking for new sources of revenue growth, WhatsApp bids farewell to its "no ads" promise

In the midst of an escalating digital advertising war, Meta has finally taken action. WhatsApp, which once prided itself on "refusing ads," will introduce paid advertising features for the first time.

On Monday, Meta officially announced that it will launch advertising features on the WhatsApp status page in the coming months. Related content will appear in the "Updates" tab at the bottom left of the app, rather than on the user's main chat interface, ensuring that ads do not disrupt the daily private chat experience.

WhatsApp currently has over 3 billion monthly active users, of which 200 million are business accounts. The "Updates" tab attracts up to 1.5 billion user visits daily. Nikila Srinivasan, Vice President of WhatsApp Business, stated that this has been a long-standing request from businesses that wish to advertise through WhatsApp while also being very concerned about users' private space.

On Monday, during U.S. stock trading, Meta's stock price rose more than 3.5% at one point.

From No Ads to Monetization Attempts

Before being acquired by Meta for $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton insisted on the principle of "No ads! No games! No gimmicks!" which is one of WhatsApp's core philosophies.

However, Meta has now decided to break this tradition, believing that there is now an "advertising space" in WhatsApp that will not disturb users' private chats.

If you are just used to chatting with friends and family on WhatsApp and never open the "Updates" page, you will hardly notice the presence of ads. But if you are a business user or someone who regularly follows news and brand updates on the platform, ads may quietly enter your view.

Continued Investment in Advertising Business

Meta's financial report released in April exceeded market expectations. Despite facing tariff policies from the Trump administration and economic uncertainties, the advertising business remains robust. Analysts say that the introduction of advertising features on WhatsApp is another important attempt by Meta to expand revenue, as WhatsApp is currently one of the few platforms that has not yet been monetized through advertising.

Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp's Product Director, pointed out that WhatsApp's "Status" feature is actually "the most widely used ephemeral content product globally." This feature allows users to post photos and other content that automatically disappears after 24 hours, similar to the ephemeral stories on Instagram or WeChat Moments.

To balance user privacy with commercialization, Meta has promised that WhatsApp's messages, voice calls, and status content will still remain "end-to-end encrypted," meaning that only the sender and receiver can view the content. However, Meta will personalize ad delivery based on users' basic information, such as geographic location, device language, followed channels, and interaction behaviorAt the same time, WhatsApp will also launch a paid subscription feature for channels. Users can choose to pay a monthly subscription for exclusive content provided by specific creators or brands. Small businesses or brands can also pay to promote their channels in the channel recommendation feed to increase visibility