For years, Meta had been dropping hints that ads would come to WhatsApp, the world's most popular instant messaging platform, which boasts a sizable user base in India.
Whenever Meta executives or someone at the top mentioned "ads" in WhatsApp over the years (read this https://lnkd.in/gWb6xBE6 and this https://lnkd.in/gG-PQqP7), there used to be a sharp reaction from people and critics alike.
There are primarily two reasons why many people do not want "ads" on WhatsApp:
👉🏼 WhatsApp is known for its simplicity and ease of use. Even our parents use it without needing a lot of tech training. Ads simply take away this simplicity. WhatsApp meant a secure and safe, a bit boring but functional, messaging platform.
👉🏼 Will these ads be non-intrusive? This again brings back the topic of data collection and targeted advertisements.
For now, WhatsApp says it has been built with privacy in mind:
"..𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦."
Also relief (at least user experience wise) is that 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐛, 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬.
Meta (earlier Facebook) purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for US$19 billion (https://lnkd.in/ggsyjAGf.). It was one of the biggest tech acquisitions at the time, and everyone marveled at WhatsApp's roaring success despite a very lean team.
It's understandable that Meta wanted some ROI from its massive investment and explored several options. WhatsApp Business API is one such example and can be safely considered a successful business model. However, ads on WhatsApp have remained a low-hanging fruit.
WhatsApp assures us: "𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦."
Read more about the latest WhatsApp update here: https://lnkd.in/gvDYW6XB
What do you think about seeing ads on WhatsApp? Is it going to be a deal breaker for you? By the way, would you pay a certain monthly fee to have an ad-free WhatsApp service? Let's discuss in the comments below. Image courtesy: WhatsApp
WhatsApp Meta WhatsAppAds privacy advertising
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