Meta has announced the global rollout of paid advertisements on WhatsApp, marking a major shift in the platform’s monetisation strategy and breaking with its long-standing no-ads policy.
The feature, expected to launch over the coming months, will introduce ads in the Status section of the app—visible through the Updates tab—ensuring they remain separate from users’ private chat conversations.
“This was a longtime request that we had from businesses, and they care about preserving people’s personal spaces,” said Nikila Srinivasan, WhatsApp’s Vice-President of Business Messaging.
The move comes as Meta seeks to generate revenue from WhatsApp, which now boasts over 3 billion monthly active users, including 200 million businesses.
The new ad format mirrors the “Stories” features found on other Meta platforms and will allow companies to reach users without disrupting personal communications.
“People want to use WhatsApp for more than messaging close friends and family,” Srinivasan said. “If you’re someone that uses WhatsApp for personal messaging and you never come to this tab, you won’t see [advertising].”
This development marks a significant departure from WhatsApp’s original ethos. Before Meta (then Facebook) acquired the app for $19 billion in 2014, co-founder Brian Acton famously adopted the motto: “No ads! No games! No gimmicks!”
The company now says the time is right to introduce ads in a “space” that won’t interfere with user privacy or the core messaging experience.
According to Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s Director of Product, the Status feature—where images and messages disappear after 24 hours—is already the “world’s most used stories product,” attracting 1.5 billion daily users.
In addition to ads, WhatsApp will introduce paid Channel subscriptions, allowing creators to offer exclusive content for a fee. Businesses and brands will also be able to pay to promote their Channels within a curated feed.
While messages, calls, and statuses will remain end-to-end encrypted, WhatsApp confirmed it will use non-sensitive data such as location, device language, followed Channels, and user interactions with marketing to tailor ad targeting.
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