Meta denies claims that it plans on ruining WhatsApp with ads

Meta released a connection defending itself against accusations that it was readying connected inserting in-feed ads into WhatsApp.

The report, which came from nan Financial Times, claimed that various teams astatine WhatsApp’s genitor institution Meta had been evaluating nan action of showing ads successful speech lists pinch contacts connected nan app’s homescreen. In response, Meta released its ain connection that it hasn’t been moving aliases testing those features and didn’t person immoderate plans for it astatine all.

FT Technology News had made akin claims, moreover posting an article connected its Twitter/X account. It was past refuted by WhatsApp caput Will Cathcart successful a quote retweet, who stated nan communicative was mendacious and Meta isn’t pushing retired specified a feature. Said refute was past added arsenic a organization statement to nan original tweet.

This isn’t nan first clip Meta has been accused of specified plans to monetize its 2 cardinal progressive personification base, arsenic analysts person been predicting specified a pivot for years. This seems to beryllium based connected Meta’s different acquisition, Instagram, which has seen dense adverts connected its users’ feeds for years.

Those accusations haven’t been without merit, however, astatine slightest successful nan past. In some 2018 and 2019, Meta had made plans to show ads successful WhatsApp. The Wall Street Journal revealed that location were plans to show ads successful nan messaging app’s Status characteristic owed to slowing advertisement revenue, while Olivier Ponteville reported connected Twitter that Meta would bring Stories Ads successful WhatsApp’s position merchandise successful 2020. Since then, nan Wall Street Journal published a follow-up communicative successful 2020 stating that Meta was backing disconnected its advertisement plans and would activity different ways to monetize nan level instead. 

And truthful acold it’s already met pinch plentifulness of occurrence successful making money done its WhatsApp Business, which has nan Meta connection services and devices to its 200+ cardinal progressive userbase. According to TechCrunch, during nan company’s Q3 2022 net call, nan “click-to-WhatsApp” ads reached nan yearly gross tally complaint of $1.5 cardinal pinch 80% year-on-year growth.

Meta besides updated its pricing building and messaging categories successful June 2023 to summation gross from WhatsApp Business. This is connected apical of plans to adhd much ways to monetize nan service, for illustration adding a measurement for businesses to nonstop users personalized messages connected Facebook and Instagram done nan app. Or by integrating payments into its caller Channels characteristic that was launched globally successful September 2023.

In different words, WhatsApp is making Meta plentifulness of money correct now and nan tech/social media elephantine already has much sustainable plans to make gross without ruining WhatsApp to do it.

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