In an interview, the boss of WhatsApp suggested that advertising could soon be added to his application. But don’t panic: the latter took care to specify that it would not be invasive. To be traded through the messaging space, which would normally be spared.
If there’s one announcement that users never want to hear, it’s the arrival of advertisements in their favorite application. However, if Meta has long since taken the plunge on Facebook and Instagram, going until recently to offer a paid subscription to get rid of it, WhatsApp has until now always been spared. But not for long. Maybe.
It all started with an interview with Will Wathcart, CEO of WhatsApp, for the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. When asked what the main sources of revenue for the application are, the latter timidly opens the door. For him, everything will start with the Communities tab. And should stay there.
WhatsApp is interested in advertising, but first for professionals
“We can offer these businesses additional paid services, for example helping them run ads on Facebook or Instagram”begins the latter, putting before his service “click-to-WhatsApp”, which opens the company’s Communities tab. A solution “much easier than creating a website”according to him.
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Certainly, but what about real advertising inserts within WhatsApp? At first, Wathcart wants to be reassuring. According to him, there will never be any advertisements in users’ inboxes. “We don’t think it’s the right model. When people open their inbox, they don’t want to see ads »he insists.
Yes, but… “There might be advertisements in other places,” he adds. “For example, Communities might charge a subscription fee, they might be exclusive to paying members, or owners might want to promote the channel. »
So no ads in the main tab of your email — at least, not in the near future. If you never use the Communities tab, you will not be impacted by this integration, if there ever is one. That said, it’s hard not to think that Pandora’s door has perhaps just been opened.
Source: Folha de S. Paulo