This represents a notable change for the platform, considering its founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, had committed to keeping WhatsApp free from advertisements.

The monetisation tools being introduced include optional paid subscriptions for Channels, promoted Channels in the Discovery ...

Those who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging will see no changes to their experience, as all new features are confined ...

But people who have chosen to link their WhatsApp account to Facebook or Instagram will see more personalised ads. The new ad features will appear in a section called Updates, which is a separate tab ...

The cofounders of WhatsApp resisted ads in the app for years, including after the company was acquired by Meta for $22 billion in 2014. Brian Acton and Jan Koum left the company in 2017 and 2018, ...

Elsewhere, Google has recently been ramping up its campaign against ad blockers, blocking some users from watching YouTube ...

Meta announced that it is adding ads and subscriptions to its WhatsApp messaging app in a June 16 press release. The social media giant, primarily known as the parent company of Facebook, said that ...

As per Meta's Newsroom, advertisements will appear only in the "Updates" tab — a separate tab at the bottom of the app, which showcases both "Channels" and "Status" features. Users can subscribe to ...

WhatsApp has over the years had a strong stance against advertising, with founder CEO Jan Koum highlighting how the company ...

The ads will be shown to users only within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate them from people’s personal conversations.

An Evercore analyst notes that Meta has a strong track record with its monetization initiatives across brands.

WhatsApp is testing ads in Status and paid channel subscriptions, all inside the Updates tab. Private messages remain ...