WhatsApp announced on Monday the next introduction of new advertising spaces, an important turning point for the messages that until now had escaped from advertising.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram or other Meta Group platforms, WhatsApp has retained an almost admitted economic model since its acquisition by social networks giant in 2014.
Touch 1.5 billion users
The application is remarkably acclaimed by its ease of use and its characteristics (audio and video calls, voice messages, etc.), its encrypted messages and its apparent commercial neutrality.
Until now, the only advertising formats have consisted of promotional messages sent through the WhatsApp commercial tool to users who have given their agreement, as well as some experiments in certain markets.
The company specifies that the new advertising spaces will appear exclusively in the “Actus” tab, which brings together “statutes” and “channels”, and is used daily for around 1.5 billion people worldwide.
The new features include paying subscriptions to certain channels, promoting channels in the discovery directory and advertisements integrated into the statutes, equivalent to Instagram stories.
No changes to discussions
Users who use WhatsApp just to chat with their loved ones will not see any change, this tab can also be disabled in the configuration.
“I want to be very clear: their personal messages, their calls and their statutes will remain encrypted from beginning to end. It means that no one, we cannot even see or listen to them. They will never be used for advertising,” said Nikila Srinivasan, Vice President of Meta, during a call to the press.
The company has undertaken to never sell or share telephone numbers with advertisers, and said that the information of personal discussions, calls or groups will not be used for advertising orientation.
The ads transmitted in the Actus tab will only rest in basic data such as approximate location, telephone language or activity in this messaging space.
Goal is trying to obtain income from the huge WhatsApp user base, which has more than two billion monthly active users.
The sector analysts have been specifying for a long time that the Californian group will eventually add advertising in messages, given their size and commitment rates.
The new characteristics implementation calendar has not been specified.
Source: BFM TV
