In a major shift toward monetisation, WhatsApp has officially begun introducing advertisements and subscription options within its Updates tab—a move that signals Meta’s intent to generate revenue while preserving the platform’s hallmark privacy for personal chats.
Used by over 1.5 billion people daily, the Updates tab houses both Status posts and the newer Channels feature. Now, Meta plans to leverage these spaces for monetisation through:
🔄 What’s Changing:
Ads in Status: Businesses can now run ads within WhatsApp Status, enabling users to discover products or services and instantly connect with brands via direct chat.
Paid Channel Subscriptions: WhatsApp will allow users to subscribe to select Channels for a monthly fee, giving them access to exclusive updates and content from their favourite creators or organisations.
Promoted Channels: To help creators and businesses grow their audiences, WhatsApp will begin recommending Channels based on user interests and activity.
“These new tools are aimed at helping admins, organisations, and businesses grow on WhatsApp,” the company noted in its official blog post.
Importantly, these changes are confined to the Updates tab, ensuring that personal chats, calls, and group messages remain end-to-end encrypted—a core pillar of WhatsApp’s privacy commitment.
To tailor ads, WhatsApp will use limited contextual data such as a user’s location, language, and interactions with Channels. Users who connect WhatsApp with Meta’s Accounts Center may also see ads based on cross-platform preferences. However, the company has stressed it will not sell or share users’ phone numbers or scan private messages or calls for ad targeting.
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