In a post published on his X account (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp manager Will Cathcart denied a report claiming that the company owned by Meta was exploring the possibilities of displaying ads on the instant messaging application.
The Financial Times reported that some teams at Meta were discussing whether to show ads with people in the conversations list on the chat page. This interface would appear similar to the way ads appear in Messenger.
This @FT story is false. We aren't doing this.
Also it looks like you misspelled Brian's name… https://t.co/Z47z9FC5yu
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) September 15, 2023
According to the report, no decision has been made yet and the concept has been discussed at the senior management level due to concerns that it could “alienate users”. However, WhatsApp said in its statement that it was not testing or working on this and that there were no plans for it.
WhatsApp has continued to operate as an ad-free app since its inception and even after the company was acquired by Meta (Facebook at the time) in 2014. This echoes WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton’s “No Ads!” No more games! No tricks!” He was following the line he set with his popular note.
However, in later years, Meta began using WhatsApp Business as a source of revenue for the instant messaging platform after giving up the $1 annual subscription fee. Launched in 2018, the app allows businesses to connect with their customers to offer a variety of services and market new offers. Earlier this year, it was announced that WhatsApp Business reached 200 million users.
Instagram, Meta’s other major acquisition, has been leveraging its advertising activities for some time. Designed for image and video content, the social media application serves ads to users in various places, including the content feed, Stories and Reels.
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