Unfortunately, soon, you won’t be able to dodge ads not even when having private conversations with your friends. Facebook has confirmed that starting with 2020, ads will begin appearing inside your WhatsApp app. Ads will be seen in WhatsApp Status, the platform’s version of Instagram Stories.
WhatsApp is one of the most successful messaging services in the world, having approximately 1.2 billion users worldwide. Since anyone can use the app without any cost, the only money Facebook receives is from business users. The company hopes to change that by incorporating ads in WhatsApp.
This change has been expected for quite some time, and at this year’s annual Facebook Marketing Summit that took place last week, Facebook officially announced ads would arrive on the messaging platform in 2020.
WhatsApp will show in-app ads starting with 2020
WhatsApp Status is the equivalent of Stories on other platforms, where you can post text, pictures, videos, or gifs, which will be shared with your friends for 24 hours, then they disappear. The ads will spread across the entire screen, and users will be able to swipe them if they are interested and want to know more about the advertised product.
Matt Nevara, a social media industry commentator and consultant, posted on his Twitter page more details about future updates of WhatsApp. Here is a list of the features that will be added to the platform in 2020:
- WhatsApp Status Ads
- WhatsApp for Businesses (more complex messaging format options)
- WhatsApp product catalog to be integrated with existing Facebook Business Manager catalog
Besides, Facebook will also make it possible for users to redirect friends from their Facebook and Instagram pages directly to their WhatsApp. For example, tapping on a retailer’ promoted post might send you directly to a WhatsApp chat where you can make an inquiry.
Daniel Kiss is the senior editor for News Lair. Daniel was working as a writer since he finished high-school, first for local papers then he started online, nowadays he likes to write about the latest games and tech innovations.