WhatsApp introduces advertising: What users need to know now!

WhatsApp introduces advertising: What users need to know now!

Enzkreis, Deutschland - What is there! WhatsApp, the popular news app, announces the introduction of advertising in the "News" area. In the future, users will have to expect advertisements that will be shown in this area. Meta, the mother company of WhatsApp, has confirmed these news today via short message service X. The “current” area, which is already frequented by around 1.5 billion users every day, includes subscribed channels and status reports from contacts. So if you use WhatsApp mainly for private messages, nothing will change for now, as the Tagesschau reports.

The new advertisements will be gradually introduced in the coming months. This gives users the opportunity to publish their pictures and videos as status reports for 24 hours. While personal conversations and calls from the end-to-end encryption remain protected, the use of the messenger could change due to the advertisements. WhatsApp now has over three billion a monthly active user, after taking over in 2014 by Facebook for about $ 22 billion.

data protection concerns in focus

A point that deals with many users are data protection issues related to the new strategy. Meta would like to use basic information such as location, language and interactions with ads for advertising in the "current" area. Data protection officers such as Max Schrems from the Organization None of Your Business (NOYB) criticize this procedure sharply and speak of an illegal data link, which is carried out without the voluntary consent of the user. NOYB is already checking legal steps against Meta and has filed a complaint against the new subscription model that provides for fees for an advertising -free use of Facebook and Instagram.

The allegations are no coincidence: Last year, Noyb had obtained a judgment of the European Court of Justice, which in certain cases prohibits the processing of personal user data. The current announcement has already led to the fact that the shares of Meta on Wall Street have risen by 2.5 percent, which shows that investors are optimistic about the future, despite the critical voices for advertising on WhatsApp.

The introduction of advertising on the platform could be a decisive change for the perception of WhatsApp, especially since the company originally promised to be able to get by without advertising. So far, little is known about the exact details and partners for advertising, and when exactly the innovations arrive in Germany, it remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain: the messenger faces a striking change in the way users experience the service.