Meta denies claims that it plans on ruining WhatsApp with ads

WhatsApp won’t be getting in-feed ads, according to Meta

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Meta released a statement defending itself against accusations that it was planning on inserting in-feed ads intoWhatsApp.

The report, which came from theFinancial Times, claimed that various teams at WhatsApp’s parent company Meta had been evaluating the option of showing ads in conversation lists with contacts on the app’s homescreen. In response, Meta released its own statement that it hasn’t been working or testing those features and didn’t have any plans for it at all.

FT Technology News had made similar claims, even posting an article on its Twitter/X account. It was then refuted byWhatsApp head Will Cathcartin a quote retweet, who stated the story was false and Meta isn’t pushing out such a feature. Said refute was then added as a community note to the original tweet.

This isn’t the first time Meta has been accused of such plans to monetize its two billion active user base, as analysts have been predicting such a pivot for years. This seems to be based on Meta’s other acquisition, Instagram, which has seen heavy adverts on its users’ feeds for years.

Relax, Meta won’t put ads in WhatsApp feeds

Those accusations haven’t been without merit, however, at least in the past. In both 2018 and 2019, Meta had made plans to show ads in WhatsApp. TheWall Street Journalrevealed that there were plans to display ads in the messaging app’s Status feature due to slowing ad revenue, while Olivier Pontevillereported on Twitterthat Meta would bring Stories Ads in WhatsApp’s status product in 2020. Since then, the Wall Street Journal published afollow-up story in 2020stating that Meta was backing off its ad plans and would seek other ways to monetize the platform instead.

And so far it’s already met with plenty of success in making money through itsWhatsApp Business, which has the Meta offer services and tools to its200+ million active userbase. According toTechCrunch, during the company’s Q3 2022 earnings call, the “click-to-WhatsApp” ads reached the annual revenue run rate of $1.5 billion with 80% year-on-year growth.

Meta alsoupdated its pricing structure and messaging categoriesin June 2023 to increase revenue from WhatsApp Business. This is on top of plans to add more ways to monetize the service, like adding a way forbusinesses to send users personalized messageson Facebook and Instagram through the app. Or byintegrating paymentsinto its new Channels feature that was launched globally in September 2023.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

In other words, WhatsApp is making Meta plenty of money right now and the tech/social media giant already has more sustainable plans to generate revenue without ruining WhatsApp to do it.

You might also like

Named by the CTA as a CES 2023 Media Trailblazer, Allisa is a Computing Staff Writer who covers breaking news and rumors in the computing industry, as well as reviews, hands-on previews, featured articles, and the latest deals and trends. In her spare time you can find her chatting it up on her two podcasts, Megaten Marathon and Combo Chain, as well as playing any JRPGs she can get her hands on.

Discord is firing back against MapleStory devs over copyright infringement and users are caught in the crossfire

Instagram is making a big change in how it lets you share information about yourself

Anker Nebula Mars 3 review: A powerful and truly portable projector