WhatsApp to start showing ads in parts of the app as Meta pushes for revenue growth

Meta-owned messaging giant WhatsApp is introducing a suite of new features within its "Updates" tab, a space dedicated to Status updates and the app’s recently launched Channels feature.

The move marks WhatsApp’s most expansive commercial shift since its inception, and a significant step in Meta’s efforts to generate revenue from the popular service without, as the company puts it, affecting the user experience.

The Updates tab, which is used by 1.5 billion people daily, will now support three new features aimed at helping creators, businesses and organizations grow their presence and earn revenue: paid channel subscriptions, promoted channels, and ads integrated into the Status format.

Subscription and discovery tools for channels

The subscription model will allow channel administrators to offer exclusive content to followers for a monthly fee. Channels themselves will remain free by default, but Meta said it will allow admins to set their own price tiers. The feature will roll out to a select group of Channels initially, with a broader launch expected in the coming months.

Meta executives emphasized that subscriptions would enable creators to share more personalized and timely updates with their most engaged followers, while also creating new income opportunities.

In addition, Meta is rolling out a feature to promote Channels within the directory, enabling admins to boost visibility by paying for placement, a model similar to how paid promotion works on Facebook and Instagram through the company’s Ads Manager platform.

Ad integration in Status format

Perhaps most notably, WhatsApp will begin displaying advertisements within the Status section of the Updates tab. These ads are likely to resemble the format already familiar to users of Instagram Stories or Facebook Stories and are intended to help users discover products and services from businesses they may want to engage with directly on WhatsApp.

“People really want to chat to businesses on their own terms, and they want to do it in a place where they already spend their time, which is on WhatsApp,” Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s vice president for product management, said during a call with reporters.

The company insists that these monetisation tools will not compromise user privacy. Personal messages, group chats and call metadata will remain end-to-end encrypted and are excluded from ad-targeting criteria.

Instead, WhatsApp said it would rely on limited signals—such as a user’s country, city, language, followed Channels, and ad interaction behavior—to determine which ads to show. Users who link WhatsApp to their Meta Accounts Center may also see personalization based on activity from Instagram or Facebook.

Meta reiterated that it does not sell or share users' phone numbers with advertisers and that ad-targeting will remain confined strictly to the Updates tab, ensuring that core messaging remains uninterrupted.

The monetisation of WhatsApp, while anticipated, highlights a continued divergence from the ideals of its original founders. Both Brian Acton and Jan Koum had vocally opposed advertising within the app, calling ads “insults to your intelligence.” Both left Meta years ago, reportedly over disagreements about the company’s commercial direction for the service.

WhatsApp’s new features are being introduced in phases and will become available globally over the coming months.