WhatsApp will show ads from 2019 onwards
It took a long time, but in the end there is no escaping: WhatsApp is going to show ads. From 2019 the time has come.
WhatsApp ads in 2019
WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 and it was then promised that you would not be bothered by advertisements in the app. They have kept that promise for a long time. Last April, former WhatsApp founder Jan Koum left the company permanently and that has turned the tide. From 2019 WhatsApp will therefore no longer be free of advertising. The advertisements are not yet available in the chats themselves, which should be a relief for many users.
Initially they will be shown in the WhatsApp Status section. This is the tab where you can share a digital diary with your WhatsApp contacts in the form of texts, photos, videos and more. It looks like Instagram Stories, which is a shameless copy of Snapchat. The screenshot above is typical, almost nobody uses WhatsApp Status. For the time being, the advertisements are easy to circumvent. We do not know yet if you can remove the ads by means of an in-app purchase.
More and more functions
It must be said that WhatsApp is no longer the simple chat app of four years back. Almost every week new functions are added to the app. Last week the new function WhatsApp group bells was rolled out via audio and video. There are also more and more possibilities for companies to use WhatsApp as a channel for customer service.