WhatsApp announces its first advertising play, but won't show it to everyone

Indian Express

6 hours ago

It is finally happening. WhatsApp is finally opening up for advertising, though limited to the Status tab. The move is significant because the messaging platform with over 1.5 billion daily users has since the time of its launch, and even after its acquisition by Facebook, maintained that advertising is something it was not very keen on.
In a set of new features announced today, WhatsApp has started rolling out ads in Status, allowing users to find new businesses while browsing through the tab. Alice Newton-Rex, VP product at WhatsApp, said they are also starting channel subscriptions to 'allow users to support their favourite channel by subscribing to receive exclusive updates for a monthly fee' and promoted channels with boosted visibility in the directory.
WhatsApp has over the years had a strong stance against advertising, with founder CEO Jan Koum highlighting how the company did not want to become 'just another ad clearinghouse'. In fact, he was famously quoted as saying that 'when advertising is involved, you, the user, are the product'. In 2014, when Facebook picked up WhatsApp for $19 billion, both Mark Zuckerberg and Koum stuck to their no-ads vision for the messaging platform, with the Facebook CEO even saying he did not think 'ads are the right way to monetise messaging'.
The new feature actually stays true to this commitment as users who don't use Status update will not see any ads. In fact, in 2017, Koum's co-founder Brian Acton had told The Indian Express (WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton: 'Social is not in our vocabulary') that the platform had started 'creating the foundations of how businesses will engage with consumers', calling it 'clean, straightforward, simple and spam-free communication'.
This need for private, personal conversations is and will always be the heart of WhatsApp, Newton-Rex said in a select media briefing. 'Privacy is at the core of everything we do, and it's what continues to drive us as we innovate and look to the future. But we know that if we get the core of private messaging right, then this gives us the opportunity to build more that users want.'
She said this was one of the reasons why WhatsApp introduced the Updates tab, 'as a place for optional experiences,' different from chats inbox. She said they are already seeing 'a lot of admins and businesses use channels and status in creative ways' and this is why WhatsApp wanted to 'give them more tools to help them grow'.
Newton-Rex said WhatsApp 'has been talking about plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years, and we believe that the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work'. With ads in status, she said, people will be able to find a new business and easily start a Whatsapp chat with them about a product or service. 'And for the businesses who rely on WhatsApp, this will help them attract new customers.'
In response to a query, Newton-Rex told indianexpress.com that users 'will be able to take out the ads in the ads manager, just like you do for Facebook or Instagram ads. Now WhatsApp will also be an option'. The ads will come in the middle of status updates, and users who have a lot of these to catch up will potentially see more ads compared to a user who has fewer status updates from contacts. The ads will also be guided by the same principles as other Meta campaigns and will be reviewed before being made live.
Clarifying that this was a feature businesses have been asking for, the WhatsApp product head said: 'There are hundreds of millions of businesses on WhatsApp talking to their customers, and we think that the reason that business has already been so successful is that people just find this a better way to interact with them. So it felt like the next logical step to help them also discover businesses directly within WhatsApp.'
Asked if these WhatsApp ads would be targeted differently, given that the platform was more community driven and not open like rest of the web, Newton-Rex underlined that WhatsApp has a 'limited set of information' and the kinds of signals that will be used are country or city, what channels you follow, what languages you use, and what ads you have interacted with. This, she said, could lead to a lot of local ads too.
With promoted channels, admins will get the ability to promote certain channels in the channels directory to help attract new followers and increase distribution for their content. Channel subscriptions, meanwhile, will give them a new way to share exclusive in the moment updates with their most engaged followers, while earning money right on WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, subscription channels will be available only to select channel partners in the beginning and broadened to more later with the ability to charge a fixed fee through the app stores. Initially, WhatsApp will not charge a fee for this feature.
Nandagopal Rajan writes on technology, gadgets and everything related. He has worked with the India Today Group and Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of Calicut University and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal. ... Read More