WhatsApp Is Getting Ads: Here’s What’s Coming

For years, WhatsApp has been one of the few major social platforms to remain ad-free—offering a private, simple way to message friends, family, and businesses. But that’s about to change.

Meta (WhatsApp’s parent company) has officially announced that ads are coming to WhatsApp for the first time—though not in the way you might think.

Here’s what you need to know about the new WhatsApp ads feature rolling out soon.

Where Will Ads Appear?

The good news for privacy-focused users: your chats will stay ad-free.

Ads will only appear in the Updates tab—the part of WhatsApp where users view Status updates (like Instagram Stories) and follow Channels (news, entertainment, creators, brands).

Ads in Status: Businesses will be able to run short ads between user Status posts—similar to how ads work on Instagram Stories.
Promoted Channels: Businesses and creators can pay to have their Channels promoted in the Channel directory.
Paid Channel Subscriptions: Some Channels will also offer optional premium subscriptions for exclusive content.

Why Is WhatsApp Adding Ads?

WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users worldwide—but until now, it hasn’t generated significant ad revenue.

Meta sees a major opportunity to monetize WhatsApp while keeping the core messaging experience private. The goal is to:

Help businesses reach potential customers
Give creators a way to monetize their content
Open a new revenue stream for Meta beyond Facebook and Instagram

What About Privacy?

Meta says WhatsApp’s core privacy protections remain intact:

No ads in chats, groups, or calls
End-to-end encryption stays in place
Ads are targeted using basic account info (like country and language), not your private messages

That said, this is still a big shift—and privacy advocates will be watching how WhatsApp balances monetization with its strong privacy reputation.

What This Means for Users

If you use WhatsApp mainly for chatting, you won’t notice a change—your messages and groups will remain untouched.

If you use Status updates or follow Channels, you’ll start seeing some ads and promoted content in the Updates tab in the coming months.

What This Means for Businesses

For businesses and advertisers, this opens exciting new possibilities:

Reach highly engaged users inside WhatsApp
Promote products, services, or content via Status ads or Channel promotions
Build new relationships by driving users to start WhatsApp chats

With over 1.5 billion people using the Updates tab daily, this is a significant new marketing channel.

When Will It Roll Out?

WhatsApp ads are expected to roll out globally in phases throughout summer and fall 2025.

Depending on your country, you may start seeing them in your Updates tab soon.

Final Thoughts

The launch of ads on WhatsApp marks a major shift for the world’s most popular messaging app.

Meta is aiming to balance new revenue opportunities with WhatsApp’s promise of privacy-first messaging.

For users, the main chat experience remains unchanged. For businesses, it’s a new way to connect with audiences where they’re already spending their time.

Stay tuned—this is only the beginning of WhatsApp’s evolution into a more business-friendly platform.

WhatsApp Is Getting Ads: Here’s What’s Coming