Will Cathcartdirector of WhatsApp has denied the rumors published by the Financial Times that they plan to activate advertising in the app. “The article is false”, judgmentalso remembering that they have misspelled the name of Brian Acton, co-founder of one of the most used messaging services in the world.
Another WhatsApp representative assures that “although we do not have a detailed record of every conversation that someone has had within the company, we can say that we are not testing this, we are not working on this and it is not in our plans to put ads in the app “.
According to him Financial Timesthe idea of placing ads on WhatsApp sparked discussions among senior managers at Meta, the company behind Facebook that acquired the messaging service in 2014 for $19 billion.
Part of the reason these discussions have broken out is because WhatsApp was conceived as a simple, easy-to-use, seamless service with a clear vision and mission: no ads, no games, no tricks. A phrase that became a startup mantra.
But Meta needs to monetize one of its largest platforms, and at the same time, one that generates the least money. Before the purchase, WhatsApp charged an annual subscription for its use. The option is being considered, but as an alternative to ads, according to the Financial Times.
It’s all false, as long as we take Will Cathcart’s words as true. But it is natural that Meta and his management are looking for and working on ways to monetize the use of WhatsApp.
More than 2 billion monthly active users
The number of monthly active users of WhatsApp continues to grow steadily, with 2,768 million people using it to communicate. 300 million more than a year ago.
So activating ads within WhatsApp would affect billions of people. According to the report of the FTit is intended that the more than 200 million registered businesses have the possibility of, upon payment, sending direct messages to users in the app.
This would make the ads appear like just another conversation. That is, the advertising would not appear within the chat itself. It would be similar to the way Gmail does it today.
But some executives within Meta consider that adopting this model would imply that the WhatsApp user experience degrades to the point that there is a migration to an alternative, which does the same thing and remains completely free.
At the moment, and if we believe the director of WhatsApp within Meta, it is something that is simply not going to happen. Although this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that a rumor circulates that the app will advertise.