WhatsApp: Ads in status, promoted channels, and channel subscriptions on their way

Meta-owned WhatsApp announced new features for the messaging service’s updates tab designed to “help” WhatsApp users find more channels and businesses on the messaging platform.

All three features are added to the tab updates in WhatsApp. They are:

• Channel subscriptions – WhatsApp users may support channels by subscribing to them for a monthly fee. May also receive exclusive updates as part of the subscription.
• Promoted channels – Allows channel owners to increase the visibility of their channel through promotions. Pay Meta for that privilege.
• Ads in Status: Businesses may promote content in their Status.

The primary purpose of these changes is to increase monetization on the platform and thus Meta’s revenue. Channel owners may pay Meta to increase the visibility of their channels. They may then get some recurring revenue going through subscriptions, of which Meta will likely also get its share. Ads in status are also likely not for free, which means that channel owners pay Meta for the privilege of displaying ads there.

Good news for WhatsApp users who do not use updates: if you do not access updates, you do not see the changes.

When you access updates right now, you see the subscribed channels and status updates. With the update, that is not going to change, but you may see other content under updates when you open it in the future.

Privacy remains top priority, says WhatsApp

WhatsApp says that privacy remains a top priority for the service. Means, messages, calls, and status are end-to-end encrypted, so that they remain accessible only to the user and the user’s contacts.

To show relevant ads, WhatsApp is using “limited info”, including the user’s country or city, language, followed channels, and interactions with advertisement on the platform. Furthermore, users who have added WhatsApp to Accounts Center will also have their ad preferences and info used from across their Meta accounts.

To be fair, this approach to advertising appears fairer than the tracker-based advertising that is the norm on today’s Internet, if true.

Now You: do you use WhatsApp at all? What about the Updates tab? Or do you prefer an alternative? Let me know in the comments below.