MENLO PARK, Calif., June 21, 2025 – WhatsApp, the global messaging giant owned by Meta, announced on Monday that it will introduce advertisements within its app, marking a significant departure from its long-standing “no ads, no games, no gimmicks” policy. The move, set to roll out globally in the coming months, will see ads displayed in the app’s Updates tab, specifically within the Status feature, which is used by 1.5 billion people daily.
The decision reverses a core principle championed by WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who famously opposed advertising, with Koum once stating, “When advertising is involved, you the user are the product.” Both founders left Meta by 2018, reportedly over disagreements about monetizing the app. Since its $19 billion acquisition by Facebook (now Meta) in 2014, WhatsApp has remained largely ad-free, relying on revenue from its WhatsApp Business platform and click-to-message ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Ads will appear as sponsored content within the Status section, similar to Instagram Stories, and will not interrupt personal chats, which remain end-to-end encrypted. Meta emphasized that personal messages, calls, and statuses will not be used to target ads, but the company will leverage basic user data such as location, language, and channel activity to personalize promotions. Users who link their WhatsApp accounts to Facebook or Instagram via Meta’s Account Center may see more tailored ads based on their activity across these platforms.
In addition to ads, WhatsApp is introducing paid subscriptions for select Channels, allowing creators and businesses to charge for exclusive content, with Meta taking a 10% commission. Businesses can also pay to promote their Channels in the app’s discovery section to attract new followers. Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, described the changes as a “natural evolution” to help businesses connect with users, noting that the Updates tab is the ideal place for these features to avoid disrupting private messaging.
The move has sparked mixed reactions. Social media expert Matt Navarra told the BBC that Meta is “laying the foundation for WhatsApp to become a monetizable platform at scale,” but warned that aggressive monetization could alienate users, particularly in markets like the UK and Europe, where WhatsApp is primarily seen as a messaging tool. Privacy advocates, including John Davisson of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, criticized the shift, calling it a “betrayal” of WhatsApp’s original privacy-focused ethos. Some users on platforms like Reddit have expressed plans to switch to ad-free alternatives like Signal.
Meta’s push to monetize WhatsApp, which has over 3 billion monthly users, comes as the company seeks new revenue streams to support its heavy investments in artificial intelligence and other initiatives. Analysts estimate that WhatsApp’s ad integration could generate billions in annual revenue, given its massive user base and Meta’s advertising expertise. However, privacy concerns linger, especially in the EU, where regulations like the GDPR and Digital Markets Act require freely given consent for data-driven ads, a standard critics argue Meta’s “pay or okay” model may not meet.
WhatsApp head Will Cathcart reassured users that the core messaging experience will remain unchanged, stating, “If you’re only using WhatsApp for messaging, you’re not going to see this.” As the app evolves into a broader platform, the introduction of ads marks a pivotal moment for WhatsApp, balancing monetization with its legacy of user privacy.
