More than a decade after Facebook (now Meta) acquired WhatsApp for a record $19 billion, the world's most popular messenger is predictably starting to look a lot more like Facebook, as even messaging morphs into another billboard for advertisers.
When WhatsApp's founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton sold their platform to Facebook back in 2014, they famously pinned a note to the office wall, "No ads! No games! No gimmicks!"
Fast-forward to 2025, and that paper pledge feels like yet another empty promise from big tech. Meta has confirmed that WhatsApp will now host targeted ads in its "Updates" tab, where 1.5 billion people check statuses and follow public channels daily.
today meta finally put ads into whatsapp.
undefined signüll (@signulll) June 16, 2025
jan’s 2012 blog post about why we don’t sell ads is still live which is kinda funny.
this is exactly why i am an apple fanboi. it’s certainly not perfect, but it’s the last major company where there is roughly one clear customer. pic.twitter.com/OVklCJ2Jwf
Sure, your messages remain end-to-end encrypted. But the targeting machine is still humming anyway. Language, location, and the channels you follow will determine which businesses get to pitch their wares to you. Link your WhatsApp to Facebook and Instagram, and you can expect more precise targeting. After all, the more Meta knows, the more advertisers will pay.
A familiar playbook
For anyone who watched Facebook pivot from a clean, friends-only timeline to the ad-saturated feed full of clickbait articles we scroll through today, the playbook will feel familiar.
First, introduce business tools, a "safe" step that feels helpful. Then sprinkle in ads in a spot that's "separate" from your core experience. Over time, that boundary creeps closer to where you chat with your family, plan weddings, or swap memes.
Meta's marketing people have tried to calm nerves. Alex Schultz, the company's CMO, attempted to reassure users that chats remain private. But most Facebook or Instagram users have been here before and know how this story usually ends.
🚨 WhatsApp Story Ads just went LIVE.
undefined Aniruddha Mishra (Ani) (@adswithani) June 17, 2025
Not in beta. Not a leak. It’s official.
Starting June 16, 2025
Ads are now showing inside the Updates tab
Yes, the same place you check your mom’s forwarded quote
📲 This is Meta’s biggest move into chat monetization
And it’s not stopping… pic.twitter.com/KNs4s0PnWu
The curse of convenience
Privacy experts warned that this day would come. Those who exited the group chat to join Signal or Telegram were often seen as paranoid doomsayers and heretics. But today, doubting Meta's promise of a private and ad-free online chat app seems obvious.
For many, the stubborn loyalty to WhatsApp was seen as a textbook example of the curse of convenience. A chat platform where everyone you know is there, from planning a school run to tracking your cousin's new baby, it's the default town square.
Just like Facebook, recent changes make the virtual village of friends feel a lot less quaint. Meta's decision to integrate an AI assistant that can't be removed or turned off is another source of fresh tension. Ask it questions, but what you type might feed future AI training or trickle to partners like Microsoft and Google.
From opening up Meta AI in WhatsApp, users are greeted with a rather ominous-sounding warning from a company selling itself on a private conversation.
"Don't share anything with the bot you wouldn't want others to see."
Elsewhere, Meta's standalone artificial intelligence (AI) app comes with a "Discover" feed that consists of a live gallery where people's private prompts, audio replies, and photos end up on display, often without them realizing it's public.
Wild things are happening on Meta’s AI app.
undefined Justine Moore (@venturetwins) June 11, 2025
The feed is almost entirely boomers who seem to have no idea their conversations with the chatbot are posted publicly.
They get pretty personal (see second pic, which I anonymized). pic.twitter.com/0Hoff1psPU
The problem is that many privacy features are buried deep inside settings menus, and many users assume their conversations are private by default. The result? Pages of confessions and awkward questions from unsuspecting users.
Consider this your wake-up call to tread carefully before you type in anything you'd rather keep to yourself when talking to your friendly AI assistant.
Is this the hill to die on?
Browse the latest threads on r/technology, and you'll see how everyday users are reacting to the recent announcements around the introduction of AI and ads to their group chats. Many comments echo the same cynicism: "It starts in Updates, next it's sponsored suggestions in your chats." Another nails the trust issue: "Once you break the no-ads promise, why should I believe you about the next one?"
A few argue it's inevitable. WhatsApp is too big not to earn its keep. Someone has to foot the server bills for 3 billion users sending complimentary messages all day. If not subscriptions, then ads are the easy fallback.
Let's be clear. The new ads haven't appeared in your chats yet. They live in the Updates tab, next to statuses and Channels you may or may not visit. If you ignore that corner of the app, you might never see them at all. For now, at least. And Meta swears this is all above board. They stress that their legal teams carefully skirt European ePrivacy rules that define ads within "electronic mail."
🚨 BREAKING: Meta announced it will start showing ADS on WhatsApp. The ads will be based on users' personal data from Facebook and Instagram [hint: it's probably illegal in the EU] 😱
undefined Luiza Jarovsky, PhD (@LuizaJarovsky) June 16, 2025
According to the official announcement:
undefinedThe Updates tab is where you discover something new… pic.twitter.com/iyVZmBkg7o
By placing promotions next to Updates, not inside your list of conversations, Meta is cleverly avoiding opening a messy spam debate. It's clever and arguably within the letter of the law. But legality doesn't always soothe that queasy feeling. Those with good memories will remember how Facebook was involved with Cambridge Analytica and how Instagram's gentle nudges to "boost this post" turned into a core ad business worth billions.
So, is it time to exit the group chat?
The privacy argument may be the smoke. But underneath, many people are just burned out by notifications. Group chats for family, friends, work, school, sports, nights out, and even neighborhood watch. Mute one, and you will be invited to three more. No wonder many feel spread thin and are feeling the effects of digital fatigue.
WhatsApp was once a tool to save time. Now, for many, it hoovers up whatever free time you have left. My phone buzzes as I write this, as my Glastonbury festival plans ramp up.
The good news is that leaving WhatsApp is neither radical nor impossible. Millions never joined in the first place. Others dip in for significant events and then fade out. If you switch to another app, your closest contacts will follow. Or you may find, as my friend did, that most group chats weren't that vital to begin with.
You might miss the ease of sending a cat video to the entire family in one tap. But you might not miss the relentless demands on your attention.
What are the best alternative chat apps?
Chat apps are becoming increasingly fragmented, with some users turning to Signal for complete privacy, Telegram for large groups, or traditional SMS for close contacts only.
Use Signal.
undefined Meredith Whittaker (@mer__edith) June 17, 2025
We promise, no AI clutter, no surveillance ads—whatever the rest of the industry does.
We lead we don’t follow❤️ pic.twitter.com/11naKMBLlw
Signal remains the top pick for those who want a similar interface but with more ironclad privacy, featuring no ads, no data harvesting, and just encrypted chats. Telegram offers larger groups, public Channels, and an opt-in approach to targeted ads so far, but unsolicited messages from bot spambots and scam attempts can be equally frustrating.
Meta's move to monetize WhatsApp doesn't mean you must quit today. However, it does open up a different question: what do you owe an app that owes you nothing in return? WhatsApp didn't invent private communication. It just packaged it well.
If you sense the package changing shape, it's time to remind yourself who controls your attention. The exit group chat option is always available. But are you brave enough to leave the group, or has WhatsApp earned its place on the first page of the home screen?
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