WhatsApp To Introduce Advertisements & Subscriptions

WhatsApp has unveiled a series of new features aimed at enhancing the Updates tab, home to both Channels and Status. The new features are designed to expand discovery, monetisation, and business engagement, without interfering with personal conversations.

The Meta-owned platform in a post shared on Monday, June 16, stated that the tab, which has been in development for the past two years, is now actively used by 1.5 billion users daily. 

According to the company, the goal is to make the Updates tab a hub for discovery while also supporting admins, organisations, and businesses in growing their presence on the platform.

"Today, we’re introducing some new features for our Updates tab, which is home to both Channels and Status.

Screengrabs of WhatsApp's upcoming features. /WHATSAPP

"We’ve worked over the last two years to make this tab the place for you to discover something new on WhatsApp, and it’s now used by 1.5 billion people a day. We’re encouraged by the enthusiasm and also want to help admins, organisations, and businesses grow on WhatsApp," the post read in part.

The platform will roll out three key features:

1. Channel Subscriptions: Users will have the option to subscribe to their favourite Channels for a monthly fee, gaining access to exclusive updates.

2. Promoted Channels: WhatsApp will begin recommending Channels within the directory based on user interests, offering admins a new tool to boost visibility.

3. Ads in Status: Users may start to see promotional content from businesses within the Status section, enabling seamless engagement and product discovery.

These features will remain confined to the Updates tab, ensuring that users who rely on WhatsApp purely for personal messaging will not experience any changes to their core chat experience.

Privacy-First Approach to Advertising

Consistent with its long-standing commitment to user privacy, WhatsApp emphasised that all personal messages, calls, and Status updates will continue to be protected by end-to-end encryption. This means that neither WhatsApp nor third parties can access the contents of users’ private communications.

"Like everything we do at WhatsApp, we’ve built these features in the most private way possible. Your personal messages, calls, and statuses remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning no one (not even us) can see or hear them," added the statement.

For ad targeting within Status and Channels, WhatsApp will rely on limited, non-sensitive information such as a user’s city or country, preferred language, followed Channels, and interaction patterns. For those who have linked WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Centre, additional data, such as ad preferences from other Meta platforms, may be used to personalise the experience.

Importantly, WhatsApp reiterated that it will never sell or share users’ phone numbers with advertisers. Personal messages, group chats, and calls will not be used to inform ad targeting.

The company has long stated its intent to build a business model that does not interfere with private conversations, and it views the Updates tab as the ideal space to introduce new tools that support creators and businesses while respecting user boundaries.

Further details and onboarding information for businesses and Channel administrators are available on WhatsApp’s official website. "For businesses and Channel admins looking to get started, more information about how to do so is here," WhatsApp concluded.