Ads Coming to WhatsApp: 7 Things to Know

Those ads coming to WhatsApp was just a rumour that has been passed from one person to another for quite a long time. Today, it has been firmly established to be true. Facebook has issued an explicit and detailed confirmation during the annual Facebook Marketing Summit that took place in the Netherlands. Several slides from the event were shown to the attendees, revealing how ads will look within the Stories Section of WhatApps. While the planned inclusion of advertisements is set for 2020, there is no timetable yet, so here are the seven details that we can offer you so far.

1. In October 2018, Facebook executive Chris Daniels spoke about monetizing the WhatsApp through ads to be shown on this popular messaging platform. This is the most effective way to earn revenue from the app, which Facebook bought for $22 billion.
2. It has been confirmed that showing ads on WhatsApp will push through in 2020, but no exact date has been given yet.
3. Facebook has aimed for the ads to become visible on WhatsApp Status. This is the same as the Instagram Stories section.
4. The ads will likely be seen on WhatsApp taking up the entire screen of your smartphone.  You only need to swipe the screen, and all the other information will appear on it.
5. If you are not a WhatsApp Status user, you will not be able to see the ads. Therefore, if you are not very keen on seeing adverts while you’re on WhatsApp, you don’t have to worry about this news.
6. The ads will work in the same way as it works on Instagram Stories. When you select a Story, your contact name and profile picture will not appear on the screen.  Instead, you will be shown the name of the advertiser.  As in Instagram Stories, when you swipe up, a website or a promotional page connected with the brand will become visible to you, and you proceed from there.
7. The New York Times has let it known that Facebook has plans of combining the WhatsApp, Instagram Stories and Facebook Messenger and make them one.  It was also reported earlier that while these are stand-alone apps, they will be unified in the technical structure.

While many users may find that ads are not the most welcome additions, they may prefer this method over annoying banner ads, which is another form of online advertising. Still, it does not satisfy people’s idea of the most suitable; however, WhatsApp ads are likely to come at a specific time, as Facebook has been seeking for opportunities to drive revenue from ads to the largest messaging platform of the world for quite a while now.  

One question that will wait to be answered is whether advertisers will buy or not.  However, many believe that in due time, once they learn how the ads in the platform work, they will start getting attracted and move towards WhatsApp. It will also be exciting, or should we say interesting to see just how WhatsApp users will find this planned new change suitable for their use or purpose.