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WhatsApp will start showing ads to users

What just happened? WhatsApp promised a few years ago that advertising would eventually become part of its app experience. Now, the company is starting to deliver on that promise. Privacy, encryption, and safety, however, are still guaranteed, the Meta-owned messaging service states. WhatsApp recently confirmed that advertising is gradually rolling out to a significant portion of its users. According to a new help page, people using the app solely for personal messaging will not see any ads for

WhatsApp just launched ads for all users, here are the details

WhatsApp has been talking about launching in-app advertising for many years, but today the change has finally arrived. Ads in WhatsApp are now official, here are the details of what to expect—including the finer points of how your privacy is impacted. Two types of ads are launching in WhatsApp today Today Meta announced via the official WhatsApp blog that ads are rolling out to all users now. Ads are launching as part of the Updates tab inside the app. This means they won’t be part of your p

Your WhatsApp Status view is about to get ads

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR WhatsApp is testing ads in the Status section of the Updates tab. New paid subscriptions and promoted Channels are also rolling out. Private messages remain untouched and end-to-end encrypted. Ads have crept into every corner of Meta’s ecosystem. Facebook, Instagram, and Reels are filled with them. For years, WhatsApp stood apart as the company’s only major platform without advertising. Now, that’s changing: ads are coming to WhatsApp, too. Meta reve

WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, the messaging app had a clear focus. No ads, no games and no gimmicks. For years, that is what WhatsApp’s two billion users — many of them in Brazil, India and other countries around the world — got. They chatted with friends and family unencumbered by advertising and other features found on social media. Now that is set to change. On Monday, WhatsApp said it would start showing ads inside its app for the first time. The promotions will a

Meta's AI-Powered Ad Machine Is Coming for WhatsApp Next

WhatsApp, the Meta-owned messaging app used by close to 2 billion people worldwide, is ramping up its advertising efforts. While the app has long promised a privacy-first experience free from traditional ads, recent updates suggest that's changing, and changing fast. In a blog post published Monday, WhatsApp announced an expansion of its "Channels" discovery and business tools, designed to help you find more content and shops directly within the app. Alongside this rollout, Meta is preparing to

Ads are “rolling out gradually” to WhatsApp

For the first time since launching in 2009, WhatsApp will now show users advertisements. The ads are “rolling out gradually,” the company said. For now, the ads will only appear on WhatsApp's Updates tab, where users can update their status and access channels or groups targeting specific interests they may want to follow. In its announcement of the ads, parent company Meta claimed that placing ads under Updates means that the ads won’t “interrupt personal chats.” Meta said that 1.5 billion pe

WhatsApp has ads now, but only in the Updates tab

It has been a long time coming — seven years since Meta first announced its plan to do so , in fact — but ads are starting to appear in WhatsApp as of Monday. They'll only be visible on the Updates tab and the company says those who use the app only to chat with family and friends really won't see any change to their WhatsApp experience. The same goes for two other new features: channel subscriptions and promoted channels. "We've been talking about our plans to build a business that does not int

WhatsApp is officially getting ads

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. WhatsApp is rolling out ads. In an update on Monday, Meta announced that it will now show ads from businesses through its Stories-like status feature. The status feature lives within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab and allows users to share disappearing text, photo, voice notes, or video messages. But now, you might see sponsored content in addition to th

WhatsApp to start showing more adverts in messaging app

WhatsApp to start showing more adverts in messaging app 1 hour ago Share Save Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Share Save Getty Images WhatsApp is launching three new ad features in a global roll-out across the messaging app. The Meta-owned platform says the new ads will not be shown in the same place as people's private chats, nor will the contents of their messages - which are encrypted - be used to decide which ads to display. WhatsApp will instead use the country, city and language o

Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp

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. Additiona

WhatsApp is adding ads to the Status screen

After years of providing free services without any bells attached, WhatsApp is now going to start showing ads on the popular chat app. To be clear, users will only see ads on the Status screen — the app’s take on Instagram’s Stories. So just like you see an ad after watching a few stories on Instagram, you will see ads on WhatsApp after you’ve scrolled through a few Status updates. The company said that its ad mechanism uses signals like users’ country or city, language, and the channels they’

How to set up a WhatsApp account without Facebook or Instagram

There's no shortage of reasons to stay off the Meta ecosystem, which includes Facebook and Instagram, but there are some places where WhatsApp remains the main form of text-based communication. The app is a great alternative to SMS, since it offers end-to-end encryption and was one of the go-to methods to send uncompressed photos and videos between iPhone and Android users before Apple adopted RCS. Even though Facebook, which later rebranded to Meta, acquired WhatsApp in 2014, it doesn't require

WhatsApp tells BBC it backs Apple in legal row with UK over user data

WhatsApp tells BBC it backs Apple in legal row with UK over user data 12 hours ago Share Save Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Share Save Getty Images WhatsApp has told the BBC it is supporting fellow tech giant Apple in its legal fight against the UK Home Office over the privacy of its users' data. The messaging app's boss, Will Cathcart, said the case "could set a dangerous precedent" by "emboldening other nations" to seek to break encryption, which is how tech firms keep customers' in

9to5Rewards: Win Apple’s latest MacBook Pro from Chargeasap [Giveaway]

This month we’ve partnered with our friends at Chargeasap to give away Apple’s latest MacBook Pro to one lucky reader to celebrate the launch of the company’s new Flash Pro Ultra, the world’s first dual OLED 275W powerbank. You can head below now to enter the giveaway and check out the new Flash Pro Ultra by Chargeasap. ChargeASAP: Flash Pro Ultra, the world’s first dual OLED 275W powerbank Chargeasap is launching a Kickstarter campaign for a brand new kind of powerbank. Flash Pro Ultra is the

Russian Groups Target Signal Messenger in Spy Campaign

Multiple Russia-aligned threat groups are actively targeting the Signal Messenger application of individuals likely to exchange sensitive military and government communications related to the country's war with Ukraine. For now, the activity appears limited to persons of interest to Russia's intelligence services, according to researchers at Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), who spotted it recently. But the tactics the threat actors are using in the campaign could well serve as a bluep