Meta has officially announced that advertisements are coming to WhatsApp. 
The ads will be integrated into the Updates tab, where Channels and Status currently live-areas now used by more than 1.5 billion people daily.
Specifically, WhatsApp Status will feature ads designed to help users discover new businesses and quickly engage with them through direct messages. Additionally, Promoted Channels will surface within the directory to highlight channels Meta thinks might be of interest based on your location, language, and interaction habits.
While these additions mark a new direction, Meta is also launching paid Channel subscriptions, enabling users to receive exclusive updates from certain Channels. Although this feature isn’t ad-related, it represents another monetization layer within the same interface.
Importantly, Meta emphasizes that personal chats, calls, and groups will remain end-to-end encrypted and unaffected by the ad rollout. The company assures users that their phone numbers won’t be shared with advertisers, and private messages won’t be scanned for ad targeting.
However, ad personalization will use data such as your city, country, language, followed Channels, and engagement patterns. If you’ve linked your WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Center, your broader ad preferences and data from other Meta services may influence what ads you see.
Meta insists that keeping ads confined to the Updates tab ensures the core messaging experience remains untouched. Critics, however, view this as the beginning of a slippery slope, with concerns that more intrusive ad placements could follow once the model proves profitable.
For now, the changes are rolling out slowly over the coming months, giving users some time to brace for-or reject-what might be the beginning of a more commercialized WhatsApp experience.