WhatsApp to Roll Out Ads: Keep Private Chats Secure
WhatsApp to Introduce In-App Advertisements
Gearing up to boost earnings, WhatsApp, under the guise of Meta—its parent company, is set to disclose advertisements within its smartphone app. These advertisements will manifest in the "Updates" section where subscribed channels and various users' status updates are accessible. Rest assured, your personal chats remain confidential.
Up until now, the Facebook conglomerate's other platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, have displayed ads, while WhatsApp has sat on the sidelines. Since being acquired by the social media giant for a whopping $19 billion over a decade ago, the world has been eagerly waiting to learn how exactly Meta would monetize WhatsApp's massive user base.
Considered a safe haven for encrypted communication, WhatsApp boasts an impressive user base of over 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. Given the sensitive nature of the introduction of ads, it's no surprise the news raised eyebrows when WhatsApp adamantly rejected rumors about introducing ads as recent as 2023.
Addressing the issue, Nikila Srinivasan from Meta clarified that your personal messages, calls, and status updates continue to remain end-to-end encrypted. Which means, your private conversations are beyond Meta's reach, incapable of being viewed or used for targeted ads. Moreover, WhatsApp guarantees that it will refrain from selling phone numbers to advertisers and will not use personal messages, calls, or group memberships to personalize ads.
The ads, however, will leverage basic information like your geographical location—city or country, your device's language, and activity records within the "Updates" section. While an exact timeline for the integration of ads remains elusive, Srinivasan hinted that the implementation will happen gradually over the subsequent months.
Reports also suggest that the advertisements will surface not only in the "Status" section within the Updates tab but will also encompass "Promoted Channels" in the Explore page.
Sources: ntv.de, mli/AFP
- Meta Platforms
- Ads
- Messenger
- The Commission has also been involved in the preparation of the draft directive regarding the integration of advertisements in WhatsApp, which is a part of Meta Platforms, considering the potential impact of technology and business models on digital services.
- In the wake of WhatsApp's decision to roll out ads, Meta is expected to carefully manage the use of user data, ensuring that it remains within the boundaries of privacy, particularly in relation to finance and sensitive information, as the company strives to maintain the trust of its 2 billion monthly active users worldwide.
