WhatsApp advertising: an overview and reasons for potential non-appearance in chats
Hey there! Guess what? Ads are coming to WhatsApp, although how often you see them depends on your usage. This announcement follows the release of a dedicated WhatsApp iPad app, as the platform prepares to bring some new revenue-generating features for businesses.
Let's dig into the details. One of the notable changes is 'Ads in Status', similar to Instagram's Stories. When you're checking out Status posts from friends and family, you might stumble upon an ad sandwiched among them, just like on Instagram. Your whereabouts (country, city, language), followed channels, and ad interaction history will be used to tailor these ads to your preferences.
Other additions include Channel subscriptions, allowing you to pay for exclusive updates from your favorite channel, and Promoted Channels, helping channel owners boost their visibility and potentially recommend interesting channels to you. Keep in mind that these features will only appear in the Updates tab, so your personal chats won't be affected – at least for now.
Rolling out slowly over the next few months, you won't see these changes right away. You can delay them by turning off auto-updates on your phone, but eventually, WhatsApp will require you to update for the app to function. The extra revenue earned through these features will be used to develop more features users will love.
So, how can you avoid ads on WhatsApp? Simple! If all you care about is the Chats tab, you'll never have to deal with ads. The new features will stay put in the Updates tab, at least for now. If you can't stand them, you might consider uninstalling the app, but be aware that deleting your account is irreversible and will delete your message history, group memberships, backups, and channels.
Want to remove WhatsApp from your phone? Here's how:
- Ensure you've deleted your account. Doing so will delete your account from all devices, erase your message history, remove you from all groups, delete your Google Account backup, remove you as a channel admin or follower, delete any channels you created if there aren't additional channel admins, and more.
- Open WhatsApp and head to Settings > Account > Delete My Account. Follow the on-screen prompts to delete your account.
- Exit WhatsApp and hold down on the app icon to follow your phone's standard app uninstall process.
There you have it! Keep using WhatsApp wisely, and enjoy your ad-free personal chats! Don't forget that the Status/Updates tab may surprise you with a personalized ad every now and then.
- As WhatsApp prepares to generate revenue, they plan to introduce features such as 'Ads in Status' and Channel subscriptions, similar to Instagram Stories and paid updates from favorite channels, respectively, with the goal of tailoring ads based on user preferences.
- In the realm of business, WhatsApp is also considering Promoted Channels, a feature that would help channel owners increase their visibility and potentially recommend interesting channels to users, all within the Updates tab where these new features will exclusively be found.
- With the introduction of these revenue-generating features, technology like smartphones, gadgets, and social media platforms like WhatsApp will continue to play a significant role in the way businesses interact with customers, potentially changing the landscape of both business and personal communication.
