Technology giant Meta has announced three major updates to one of its products, WhatsApp. The three new features will change the way the WhatsApp Updates tab works, including Status and Channels for users, and also help business owners and content creators to expand their presence online. The new features come with monetisation options for Content creators and business owners.
According to the Meta statement, it will also allow them to monetise their content.
The Updates tab will now promote new channels for users to discover and promote channel subscriptions for exclusive updates. In addition, there will now be ads in WhatsApp statuses to help businesses improve visibility and acquire new users. This is a major move for WhatsApp and aligns with plans to finally monetise the platform in a way that does not interrupt users’ chats. Despite the $220 million fine imposed on WhatsApp and Meta by the Nigerian government, the company has not made any exceptions to the latest update.
The statements read:
Your personal messages, calls, and groups remain end-to-end encrypted, and that includes your Status updates. We’ll never sell or share your phone number with advertisers. To show ads in Status or Channels you might care about, we’ll use limited info like your country or city, language, the Channels you’re following, and how you interact with the ads you see.
“For people who have chosen to add WhatsApp to Accounts Center, we’ll also use your ad preferences and info from across your Meta accounts.”
