Photo by Torsten Dettlaff
Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, responded to a media report claiming the Meta-owned company was looking into ways to show advertisements on its instant messaging app on his X account (previously Twitter).
According to the Financial Times, some Meta teams are debating whether to include contacts and advertisements in WhatsApp’s list of conversations. The user interface might resemble how Messenger ads appear.
According to the report, no final decisions have been made and the idea has received more discussion due to worries that it might “alienate users.” According to a statement from WhatsApp, there are no plans in place for it and it is not being tested or worked on.
Since its inception and even after being purchased by Meta (previously Facebook) in 2014, WhatsApp has remained an ad-free app. This is consistent with Brian Acton’s well-known adage, “No Ads! No Games!, No Gimmicks!” from the co-founder of WhatsApp.
However, Meta eventually stopped paying the $1 annual subscription fee and began using WhatsApp Business as the platform’s revenue stream. The app, which was released in 2018, enables companies to interact with their clients to market new products and services. WhatsApp Business reportedly had 200 million users as of earlier this year.
Instagram, Meta’s other significant acquisition, has long used advertising. Ads can be seen in the content feed, Stories, and Reels of the social media app that is intended to consume image and video content.
In recent news, WhatsApp revealed that India would be the first country to see the global expansion of its Channels feature. Additionally, it expanded support for HD video uploading, multi-account support, a new macOS app, and more. According to some changes in a recent Android beta, the app may eventually support cross-platform messaging.
