• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Stock

Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp

by June 17, 2025
written by June 17, 2025

It took 11 years since Facebook acquired it for $19 billion, but Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp, marking a major change for an app whose founders shunned advertising.

Meta announced Monday that businesses will now be able to run so-called status ads on WhatsApp that prompt users to interact with the advertisers via the app’s messaging features. The ads will only be shown to users within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate the promotions from people’s personal conversations. Additionally, Meta will begin monetizing WhatsApp’s Channels feature through search ads and subscriptions.

The debut of ads on the messaging app represents a significant step in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to make WhatsApp “the next chapter” in his company’s history, as he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in 2022. The move to monetize WhatsApp also comes amid Meta’s high-profile antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission over the company’s blockbuster acquisitions of the messaging app and Instagram.

Already, Meta allows advertisers to run so-called click-to-message ads on Facebook and Instagram that steer users to WhatsApp where they can directly engage with businesses. Messaging between brands and consumers “should be the next pillar of our business,” Zuckerberg told analysts in April, adding that WhatsApp now has over 3 billion monthly users, including “more than 100 million people in the U.S. and growing quickly there.”

Now, companies can run those kinds of ads within WhatsApp itself. The new status ads appear in a user’s Updates tab within that tab’s “Status” feature that can be used to share pictures, videos and text that vanish after 24 hours, akin to Instagram Stories.

Since Meta bought WhatsApp in 2014, the popular messaging app has continued to grow worldwide. But unlike Facebook, Instagram and most recently Threads, WhatsApp has never allowed advertising.

WhatsApp’s co-founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, were public in their scorn for the advertising industry, and the duo left Facebook after reportedly clashing with executives who were eager to inject the app with advertising and other practices they shunned.

The social media company does not reveal WhatsApp’s specific sales, but analysts have previously estimated the app’s revenue to be between $500 million and $1 billion from charging businesses for tools and services so they can message customers on the app.

Meta will “use very basic information” to recommend which ads to show WhatsApp users, Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s head of product for business messaging, said Friday. This includes a person’s country, city, device, language and data like who they follow or how they interact with ads.

The company debuted WhatsApp’s Updates tab in June 2023 along with an accompanying Channels feature that allows people and organizations to send broadcast messages and updates to their followers as opposed to personal conversations. Meta will also monetize the Channels feature, the company said Monday.

Organizations and people who are Channel administrators will now be able to spend money to boost the visibility of their respective Channels when a person searches for them via a directory, similar to ads on Apple’s and Google’s app stores.

Additionally, channel administrators will be able to charge users monthly subscription fees to access exclusive updates and content, Meta said Monday. The company will not immediately make money from those monthly subscription fees, but it plans to eventually take a 10% cut of those subscriptions, a spokesperson said.

Meta hopes that by limiting its new ads to WhatsApp’s Updates tab it will disrupt users as little as possible, Srinivasan said. Users’ status updates as well as personal messages and calls on WhatsApp will remain encrypted, she said.

“We really believe that the Updates tab is the right place for these new features,” Srinivasan said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
Why did Trump leave G7 early? ‘Much bigger’ than Iran cease-fire, he says
next post
Reagan-nominated federal judge accuses Trump admin of ‘discrimination’ with cuts to NIH diversity grants

related articles

YouTube to pay $24 million to settle Trump...

October 1, 2025

Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years in prison...

October 1, 2025

Video game maker Electronic Arts to be acquired...

October 1, 2025

Nearly 200,000 BMWs recalled over potential fire risk

September 30, 2025

Trump says U.S. will impose new tariffs on...

September 29, 2025

Former Fed chairs warn that removing Lisa Cook...

September 27, 2025

Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC...

September 27, 2025

The charm of watching movies in theaters is...

September 25, 2025

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns, claiming parent company...

September 18, 2025

LimeWire acquires Fyre Festival, asking ‘What Could Possibly...

September 17, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Russia, Ukraine agree to Black Sea ceasefire following US talks

    March 25, 2025
  • State Department approves sale of $1.4B worth of helicopters, F-16 parts to UAE ahead of Trump’s visit

    May 14, 2025
  • Pete Marocco, mastermind behind dismantling of USAID projects, leaves State Department

    April 14, 2025
  • Pentagon transfers out 3 Guantanamo Bay detainees

    December 18, 2024
  • Supreme Court rules DOGE can access Social Security information

    June 6, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 3

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 4

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (6,250)
  • Investing (634)
  • Stock (935)

Latest Posts

  • ‘All the options’: GOP eyes cutting August recess to move dozens of Trump nominees stalled by Dems

    July 21, 2025
  • House GOP plan to avert government shutdown on life support as Johnson delays vote

    September 11, 2024
  • China opens probe into Nvidia, accusing company of violating its anti-monopoly law

    December 10, 2024

Recent Posts

  • Iowa witness held in missing American student case appears in Dominican court

    March 18, 2025
  • Schumer calls on Leland Dudek, acting commissioner of SSA, to resign

    April 15, 2025
  • Pakistan says it has struck military targets inside India in series of new attacks

    May 10, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • Hillary Clinton blasts Trump’s legal woes amid ‘lock him up’ chants in DNC speech: ‘Only cares about himself’

    August 20, 2024
  • ‘Fulfill the mandate’: New election integrity report calls for critical changes to guarantee secure elections

    February 6, 2025
  • How Nvidia doubled earnings, lost almost $300 billion in value and shook the stock market

    September 5, 2024
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock