Meta beats cash on WhatsApp also: advertising arrives on “states” and “channels”, but at least for now the private chats remain off limits.
Will WhatsApp become the hen from the golden eggs of Meta? After years of resistance, advertising will also arrive here. The Meta chat – the only one to be still without it – is preparing to introduce announcements in the “updates” section, the one it contains states And channelsbut the good news for users who do not appreciate tailor -made notices is that Private chats will remain off-limits.
This turning point, however, marks a change in the way in which the platform intends to “monetize” its 2 billion users, balancing the needs of the advertising market with the promises of confidentiality that have decreed its success. Meta, which in the first quarter 2025 recorded advertising revenues for over 41 billion dollars, now aims to make WhatsApp not only a communication tool but also a source of earnings.
Targeted ads. The announcements will not appear in the chats but in the states, that is, those “stories” similar to Instagram visible to their contacts. Just as it already happens on other destination apps, between one update and the other of the friends will be able to appear a sponsored content, in vertical format and full screen. The advertising will also be visible in the channel section: there the companies or Creators will be able to pay to promote their content and earn visibility in the list of discovery.
The system to identify the target will be limited: it will be based on generic data such as language, approximate position and activities in the “Updates” sectionwithout using telephone numbers, messages or groups. In this regard, Meta specified that the announcements will never be inserted in the conversations feeds, nor will there be invasive banners elsewhere in the app.
Exclusive channels. In addition to the commercials, WhatsApp will also introduce premium subscriptions for channels. That is, it will be possible to follow some paying a monthly figure to access exclusive content: Behind 1st System (which in technical jargon takes the name of “Paywall”) there may be dedicated updates, videos, podcasts or confidential files.
An interesting point for those who want to promote themselves on the social network is that Meta will not deal with commissionsat least for the first year, leaving all the revenues to the administrators, with the idea of encouraging media, football teams, creators and influencers to invest in WhatsApp as a stable and direct communication platform, in a similar way to what has already happened on Telegram, Patreon or YouTube. This is because the canals, born only in 2023, are already used by millions of users in the world.
Privacy under key. All these news, what impact will they have on user privacy? It is a fundamental point, on which Meta reassures: The messages remain encrypted end-to-end and advertising will never be based on private conversations. Although the app is now part of a global advertising network, Whatsapp will not sell telephone numbers or will use sensitive data for targeting, and users will be able to continue chatting, calling and sending voice messages without them being analyzed for advertising purposes.
The insertion of the new functions will be gradual and will take place in the coming monthswith variable timing according to the countries. As Meta explained, they may want weeks or months before the mechanism travels at full laps and that the news is all visible on our device.
