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In September, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart denied a report that said Meta plans to show ads in the messaging app. However, it turns out he was hiding something when he called the report “false.” The company still has plans for ads on WhatsApp, just that it won’t place them in the main inbox. The plan is to show ads in other places within the app, such as statuses and channels.
WhatsApp still plans to show ads
Meta has been planning to bring ads to WhatsApp for several years now, at least since 2018 when the company was still called Facebook. The firm wanted to begin the pilot in 2020 but it didn’t work out. There hasn’t been much talk about it since then. However, the social media behemoth never shelved the idea. After all, online advertising is a very lucrative market. With WhatsApp’s popularity (more than two billion users globally), Meta can make a fortune.
Cathcart has now confirmed that WhatsApp ads are still in the pipeline. He revealed the plans in a recent interview with the Brazilian publication Folha De S.Paulo. When asked about his “false” remark to the aforementioned report, he said, “The article claimed that we were going to place ads in the inbox. We are not doing this, nor discussing it. We don’t think this is the right model. When people open their inbox, they don’t want to see advertising.”
However, “there could be ads in other places—channels or statuses,” Cathcart added. “For example, channels might charge people to subscribe, they might be exclusive to paid members, or the owners might want to promote the channel. But, no, we won’t put ads in your inbox,” he explained (via TechCrunch). The WhatsApp head didn’t give us a timeline for when ads may start showing up in the messaging app.
According to reports, WhatsApp didn’t go ahead with the original plan in 2020 due to fears that users may have privacy concerns. However, Meta knows that ads in the messaging app will be a major revenue stream. It appears to be gradually marching toward the goal while addressing the concerns of privacy-focused users by keeping ads out of the inbox. We will let you know when we have more information about Meta’s plans.
WhatsApp is doubling down on AI features
In the interview, Cathcart also talked about WhatsApp’s AI plans. He said AI stickers and AI chat agents are some of the features that are making conversations more fun. WhatsApp also plans to expand the availability of its advanced AI-powered customer service agents for businesses. Cathcart said the company is working with industry partners like Microsoft to evaluate and train AI to respond correctly without bias.
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