Good morning! Ads on Whatsapp coming soon

Meta Platforms Inc.,which owns and runs social media platform Facebook and messaging app WhatsApp announced on Monday that WhatsApp will introduce advertisements for the first time, marking a significant shift for the platform that has remained largely ad-free since its launch in 2009. The original founders, Brian Acton and Jan Kuom had vowed to keep it free of ads. The ads will appear in the app’s Updates tab, which includes Status updates and Channels, used daily by approximately 1.5 billion people, the company said.

The move aims to tap into WhatsApp’s global user base of over 2 billion monthly active users to diversify Meta’s revenue streams, which reported $164.5 billion in 2025, with $160.6 billion from advertising. The ads will be targeted using limited user data, such as country, city, language, followed Channels, and ad interactions, but Meta emphasized that personal messages, calls, and statuses remain end-to-end encrypted and will not be used for ad targeting.

WhatsApp will also introduce paid channel subscriptions, allowing creators and businesses to charge for exclusive content, and promoted Channels to boost visibility. “We’ve been talking about building a business that doesn’t interrupt personal chats for years, and the Updates tab is the right place for these features,” Meta said in a media statement.

Reverses no ads stand

The decision reverses WhatsApp’s original “no ads” stance, a principle championed by founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who left Meta after clashing with executives over monetization plans following the company’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.

Meta said the ads, rolling out globally over the coming months, will not appear in personal chats, preserving the core messaging experience. Users who exclusively use WhatsApp for direct messaging may avoid ads entirely. The company also clarified it will not sell or share phone numbers with advertisers.

The move comes as Meta faces regulatory scrutiny, including an antitrust case with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram. Analysts see the ad integration as a strategic push to monetize WhatsApp’s massive engagement, aligning with Meta’s broader advertising model across Facebook and Instagram.

Meta shares rose 3% to above $700 on Monday, reflecting investor optimism about the new revenue stream.