WhatsApp is currently evaluating the introduction of promotional ads in the Status and Channels sections for its more than 2 billion users.
Behind the addition of recent new features, such as those dedicated to account management and the quality of multimedia content, there seems to be WhatsApp’s desire to expand your monetization strategies.
The messaging platform, which has over two billion users worldwide, has maintained its free nature over time; there are few premium options, with most features completely free to use and free of advertisements.
However, a change in perspective is evident, as the company has officially announced the possibility of placing ads within the app in the future, while ensuring that such advertising content will not interfere with personal conversations or appear in chats.
Need for income
Recently interviewed, the head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, specified that the ads would not interfere with the main messaging inbox, but only in areas dedicated to public messages and group discussions.
Therefore, sponsored content could appear in the channels, while the ads in status would resemble those already found on other social media.
While there have been no rumors of this, there was a past attempt to insert ads into a trial version of the status feature in 2019.
In addition to the announcements, it seems that WhatsApp is working on voicemail and sticker improvements.
Among the new features being developed, we highlight the possibility for users to pause and resume voice recordingsas well as the ability to accompany them with stickers.
In the past Cathcart had talked about the future of WhatsApp and how Meta, the parent company, in order to produce revenue, could impose on people the option to pay to join a certain channel, something that already happens on other apps.
Free or not free
WhatsApp wants to bet on new functions to try to earn money without making the experience less pleasant for users.
We still don’t know exactly how the ads will be received: on the one hand, the introduction could potentially interrupt the flow of content, decrease user interaction and have a negative impact on the perception of the WhatsApp brand.
On the other hand, ads could provide funding for new features, be targeted and relevant, and even improve user experience through personalized recommendations or discounts.
It is important to know that, even if we are used to using WhatsApp for free, one of its main sources of income is represented by the WhatsApp Business API.
This API allows businesses of various sizes to access a variety of specialized tools, generating a significant annual revenue of almost 10 billion dollars.
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