Mark Zuckerberg Introduces Ads on WhatsApp: "Your Chats Remain Safe"
- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, continues to make changes to its platforms, rolling out new features
- The world's second richest man Mark Zuckerberg-led company has announced changes to WhatsApp's Update feature
- Meta said users of the messaging application will now sell products and services via status and channel ads
- The company assured subscribers that their personal information and data would not be interfered with or sold to third-party users
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Wycliffe Musalia has over six years of experience in financial, business, technology, climate, and health reporting, providing deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends. He currently works as a business editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Meta Inc. has announced changes to the messaging application WhatsApp.

Source: Getty Images
The company, led by the world's second-richest man, Mark Zuckerberg, introduced ads on the WhatsApp status feature.
Will WhatsApp ads affect chats?
The company stated that the ads on the Update tab will not affect users' chats but will help channel admins, organisations, and businesses build and grow.
Serving 1.5 billion people per day globally, WhatsApp added that the Updates tab will bring the change it has anticipated for years.
"Today, we are introducing new features in WhatsApp’s Updates tab, which is home to both Channels and Status.
"Subscriptions, promotions and ads will appear only on the Updates tab, away from your personal chats," said Meta in a statement dated June 16, 2025.
Who will see ads on WhatsApp?
The company revealed that only users who visit WhatsApp status will experience the change.
However, if subscribers only use WhatsApp for chats, there will be no changes.
The features introduced on the WhatsApp Updates tab are:
- Channel subscriptions: This allows subscribers to support their favourite channel by subscribing to receive exclusive updates for a monthly fee.
- Promoted channels: Users will discover new channels that might be interesting and will allow admins to increase their channels’ visibility.
- Ads in status: Allows users to advertise and find new businesses, products or services in status.
The ads will be displayed based on the user preferences, country and region, language, and the channels they follow.
WhatsApp assured users that the features are developed in the most privacy-oriented way and their personal messages, calls and statuses remain end-to-end encrypted.
It also noted that no personal data will be transferred or sold to third-party users, including advertisers.
The company said the feature will continue to roll out in the coming months for all users.

Source: UGC
Changing WhatsApp status features
The ad features are part of the ongoing changes introduced by Meta to the messaging application.
In October 2024, the Facebook sister platform announced plans to launch a new feature to enhance iOS and Android users' experiences on the Updates tab.
The messaging application said it would roll out the feature that would allow subscribers to search, select, and share music in status updates.
The announcement came after Meta entered an agreement with Universal Music Group, which includes WhatsApp and other platforms.
Source: TUKO.co.ke