WhatsApp is no longer just a chatting app. Meta has taken a step towards monetizing this platform. The company has introduced a new feature called Status Ads. Under this WhatsApp users will now start seeing sponsored ads in the status section. This feature will be similar to the ads seen in Instagram and Facebook Stories.
The Status Ads feature will allow business accounts to display sponsored content in users' Status feeds. These ads will appear in between the usual updates from friends and family but will be marked as sponsored, so users can distinguish between personal posts and promotional content.
WhatsApp users will now see Sponsored Ads between some statuses while scrolling through the status section. These are the same statuses that your friends and family post and which disappear in 24 hours. Now ads published by Meta will also appear between these.
When a user is viewing WhatsApp status, after some statuses he will see Sponsored Status. This Sponsored Status will actually be an advertisement, which will be shown to targeted users by Meta.
These Status Ads can show promotions of mobile phones, gadgets, e-commerce offers, trailers of new movies or web series, beauty, fashion and food brands. So far these ads are appearing only on verified channels, but soon this feature will start appearing in the status section of all users.
It has been clarified by WhatsApp that your chat is still completely end-to-end encrypted. “Meta cannot read your personal chats. These ads will be shown only based on your status viewing habits, app usage patterns and general data.”
At present, users have not been given any option to turn off Status Ads. This feature is being rolled out gradually and will be fully integrated for every WhatsApp user in the future.
With the introduction of Status Ads on WhatsApp, it is clear that Meta is now planning to earn money from this popular app as well. Although there will be no impact on the chatting privacy of the users, the interface and user experience of the app may feel different than before. Now it remains to be seen how easily Indian users adopt this change.