WhatsApp To Monetize App with Ads in The Near Future

• WhatsApp VP Chris Daniels revealed that WhatsApp is about to see changes in how the app is monetized.
• The app will soon allow ads by partnering with businesses across the world.
• There is no word on when ads will begin showing up on the app currently.

While speaking at an event in New Delhi, India, WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels revealed that WhatsApp may soon monetize itself through advertisements. The app has been ad-free since its release, and it seems like things may finally change.

The Facebook-owned messaging app was subscription-based at launch. Users were able to use the app as much as they wanted for a year and would eventually be required to pay $1 per year. It was fairly cheap considering WhatsApp was simply trying to compete against traditional SMS service. The app was available on almost all major platforms including the likes of Blackberry and Windows phone, two platforms that have almost died out. Users also have access to web and desktop clients as well. Eventually, the app went completely free, and it has been operating free of charge ever since.

According to reports, ads may appear on WhatsApp Status, a feature that is similar to Instagram Stories. It is currently more popular than Snapchat and allows users to post updates with text, photos, and videos that are encrypted just like the end-to-end communication. They are visible for 24 hours before they disappear forever. Ads may soon appear on the app as Status to make the monetization as less intrusive as possible.

How WhatsApp will monetize itself is undecided internally, and we also don’t have any word on how long it will be until ads pop up on the app. Advertisements often draw the ire of users with Netflix users being very unhappy with the implementation of ads on the platform. However, when it comes to the messaging app, it is a free service and is not a non-profit venture like Telegram which means some form of monetization was to be expected after the subscription model was taken down.

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