(CTN News) – WhatsApp’s creators have previously opposed ads, but now Meta is introducing them, which is a big departure for the platform. After Facebook paid $19 billion to purchase Meta eleven years ago, it is now able to broadcast ads.

WhatsApp status ads are now available on Meta.

These advertisements encourage users to interact with the marketers by leveraging the messaging features of the Android app.

The ads will only appear on WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab, which is separate from user discussions, to protect user privacy. Additionally, Meta is getting ready to introduce search advertisements and subscriptions as a way to make money using WhatsApp’s Channels feature.

In an interview with Jim Cramer of CNBC in 2022, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, said he plans to launch ads on WhatsApp to make the messaging app “the next chapter” in his company’s history.

Meta’s move to make money through WhatsApp comes at the same time as it is embroiled in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit with the FTC. The issue stems from the company’s large purchases of the messaging app and Instagram.

Advertisers can use click-to-message advertising on Facebook and Instagram with Meta’s existing solution. Advertisements like these can lead users to WhatsApp, where they can have one-on-one interactions with businesses.

According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s April remarks to analysts, customer-business messaging “should be the next pillar of our business.” With over 100 million users in the US and a strong growth rate, he said WhatsApp has over 3 billion monthly users.

Businesses can now run these types of ads directly within WhatsApp. The “Status” part of the Updates page displays the status adverts that have recently been added to a user’s profile.

Similar to Instagram Stories, these ads allow users to share text, images, and videos, and they are removed after 24 hours.

WhatsApp’s global user base has grown after Meta purchased it in 2014.

What sets WhatsApp apart from Facebook, Instagram, and even Threads is that it has never allowed advertisements to show up on its network.

According to reports, WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook because they couldn’t agree with executives who wanted to flood the app with ads and other rules they didn’t agree with. Koum and Acton were openly hostile to the advertising business.

Although the social media business does not provide WhatsApp’s exact sales numbers, researchers have calculated that the service makes between $500 million and $1 billion annually. This revenue is produced by businesses paying for WhatsApp tools and services that allow them to interact with customers on the network.

The head of product for business messaging at Meta, Nikila Srinivasan, said on Friday that the company will “use very basic information” to decide which advertisements to show WhatsApp users. Personal information, including a user’s location, device, language, and behaviors in reaction to ads or the people they follow, are all included under this umbrella.

Along with the Channels functionality, WhatsApp also unveiled the Updates tab in June 2023. With this application, people and organizations can broadcast updates and messages to their followers instead of having one-on-one talks. In a public statement on Monday, Meta revealed that the Channels function will also be made profitable.

Channel administrators will soon be able to purchase their channels to rank higher in directory queries, regardless of whether they are people or businesses.

This is similar to the ads that appear in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

On Monday, Meta also revealed that channel managers will be able to charge customers a monthly subscription fee in order to grant them access to updates and special material. A spokesman said that although the company will not immediately profit from the monthly membership costs, it plans to keep 10% of the money made from these subscriptions in the future.

To minimize user inconvenience, Srinivasan announced that Meta’s new ads would only appear on WhatsApp’s Updates pane. According to her, WhatsApp users will continue to encrypt their phone calls, private discussions, and status updates.

According to Srinivasan, “We are of the firm conviction that the Updates tab is the appropriate location for these newly added features.”

SOURCE: CNBC