Meta has confirmed that ads will start appearing in the Updates tab, the section where users post disappearing status updates and follow channels.
Private messages stay untouched (for now).
But this marks the first real step toward monetizing WhatsApp at scale.
What’s changing:
– Ads will show in the Status feed alongside regular updates
– Channel promotions and paid subscriptions are being tested
– Targeting is based on basic signals: country, language, channel follows, ad interactions
What’s not changing:
– No ads in 1:1 or group chats
– No phone number or message content used for targeting
– No cross-app data sharing beyond Meta’s existing stack
My take: Meta is turning WhatsApp into a more traditional ad platform just very slowly.
By using the “Updates” tab as the entry point, they preserve the core experience while laying the groundwork for more aggressive monetization later.
For advertisers, this could become an interesting new placement especially in markets where WhatsApp dominates attention but hasn’t yet offered real performance ad inventory.
Thanks for sharing Thomas Eccel!
