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Advertisements are coming to WhatsApp, according to an official statement by the messaging platform’s parent, Meta (NASDAQ:META), on Monday.
The move by the social media and tech giant will contribute to its already strong ad revenue, which rose 16% to $41.4B in the first quarter this year.
The company is introducing ads, along with channel subscriptions and promoted channels, which are expected to boost the reach of businesses and content creators. The ads will appear in the updates tab, under status and channels.
“The growing popularity of the updates tab makes this the right place for these experiences, in a way that doesn’t interrupt your chats,” Meta said in its blog.
The company clarified that the personal messaging experience on WhatsApp is not changing.
“Subscriptions, promotions, and ads will appear only on the updates tab, away from your personal chats,” the company said. “This means if you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones, there will be no change to your experience at all.”
The new features will be rolled out in the next several months.
META shares +2.6% in early premarket trading.
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