This week, WhatsApp did something that its founders said he would never do: this ads are putting the ad inside the app. This eliminates more than the WhatsApp runs, offering advertising -free messaging and calling experience.
Meta, who acquired WhatsApp in 2014, tried to justify the decision, saying that the ads would be separated with its “update” tab, where you would see some sponsored status updates. The WhatsApp status feature allows users to share photos, videos and text messages that disappear after 24 hours – but now you will also see the business. “If you just use WhatsApp to communicate with friends and loved ones, your experience does not change,” said Metaa in her declaration.
But the role of advertising in this status feature can only start for out Meta Mista, which includes income from Facebook and Instagram in 2024 in revenue of more than $ 160 billion. Meta says its ads are “kept in mind” and will not pull your personal messages, calls and places, which will be confidential. Instead, the WhatsApp targets the elements such as your city, country, language, these channels, and the way you interact with ads, such as targeting elements. Nevertheless, the advertisements targeted in the platform are also contradictory to its identity as a “safe” messaging app.
John Kum and Brian Acton, co -founders of WhatsApp, have made their stand on the ad. “Remember, when the ad is included You user Products are, “The 2012 WhatsApp Blog Post is written. Kum also placed a note on his desk tapped from Acton, which wrote,” No advertisement! No game! No trick! “As a reminder of what kind of app they should build.
Just two years after the acquisition of Meta’s WhatsApp, the app was transferred to a completely free model by charging 99 cents each year. At that time, WhatsApp said it would still “offer an experience without third -party ads and spam.”
Behind the curtains, continuous pressure for Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s targeted advertisements left Kum and Acton out of the company. “Targeted advertising is the one that makes me unhappy,” Acton said during an interview with 2018. ” Forbes In which he explained his departure. In the subsequent years, Meta has called for ads to the WhatsApp. He pulled a plug on his idea in 2020, but later in 2023, it was likely before advertising users. WhatsApp is also preparing the ability to subscribe to channels and pay for businesses to pay for high locations on its “Explor” page.
“It’s been thirteen years since our founders have written about the initial version of WhatsApp,” WhatsApp spokesman Anik Van Dare Wade said in an emailed statement. Stuffy. “After all this time, the experience we are making will still not interfere with your chats.” The company believes the latest tab is “the right place” for advertising and other new features of Meta, Van Darewood added.
The fact is, Meta business is made on advertising. Earlier this year, the threads could not help launch ads, and the AI AD tools are planning to help companies make more advertising. Meta also brought her AI Chatboat to WhatsApp, where users can communicate with the boot in group messages, ask questions and create photos. The company says it can read messages that ” @Meta AI, or that people choose to share with Meta AI,” raise concerns of privacy that aims to fix WhatsApp with private AI chats.
“This is another betrayal of privacy reservations that once distinguished WhatsApp.”
The launch of targeted advertising only increases these concerns. “This is another betrayal of privacy reservations, which once distinguished WhatsApp and attracted many of its users to the platform,” said John Dawson, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). Stuffy. “Meta has done a service in which advertising was not promised and the least data was collected and it has been put into another tent of her supervision advertising empire.”
Many people are not happy with advertising, some users on the Reddate say they intend to convert to a signal ad -free app due to change. One user writes, “Friendly reminder to people. Signal for good is a high product.” Another comment, which presented more than 3,500 times, says: “The moral of the story: never rely on the zak. Meta/Facebook promised that when they received the app in $ 19bln, they promised to add ad to WhatsApp.” Some users are still indifferent to the change because it affects a tab they use less frequently.
“Online advertising environmental systems have been shown repeatedly to accelerate secrecy and security violations,” said Bill Baddington, senior staff of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Stuffy. “Although this is not an amazing move for Meta, it is putting 3 billion users of WhatsApp into unnecessary risk, all of this is not asked and no one wants for a monetization strategy.”
Updated, June 17: Added a WhatsApp statement.
