this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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WhatsApp is officially getting ads (www.theverge.com)
submitted 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) by MazonnaCara89@lemmy.ml to c/technology@lemmy.world
116 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

WhatsApp is rolling out ads. In an update on Monday, Meta announced that it will now show ads from businesses through its Stories-like status feature.

Meta says it will tailor the ads to your interests by using “limited” information, including your country or city, language, the channels you follow, and how you interact with ads on the platform. You can also change your ad preferences from Meta’s Accounts Center.

This isn’t the only change Meta is making to WhatsApp. The company will also start showing promoted channels when you click on the Explore button to find new ones to follow. It’s also rolling out the ability to subscribe to channels to “receive exclusive updates” as well.

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[–] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 15 points 10 hours ago (5 children)

I use Beeper which shows me a unified view of whatsapp and Signal and others. whatsapp itself has zero permissions on my phone. I hate that I need to have it at all but Europe is deep into that. Sigh.

[–] sykaster@feddit.nl 2 points 1 hour ago

Isn't Beeper another security risk? They also store your data on their cloud, and it's not encrypted during the bridge process.

[–] kirk781@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Whatsapp is popular a lot in many parts of the world. In India, WhatsApp is almost the defacto standard messaging app with Telegram probably flying in a far second. I doubt I know anyone who even uses stuff like Signal or Threema or any of the alternatives.

[–] embed_me@programming.dev 1 points 3 hours ago

Doesn't help that Telegram media downloads are throttled by some Indian ISPs (looking at you, Jio)

[–] lemmyingly@lemm.ee 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

At least normal European people are locked into a platform that doesn't care what device you're using, unlike iMessage - so it's not all bad

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I'm an iPhone user and I've never met anyone that gave a shit about iMessage. In the past ten years.

[–] Alk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm an android user and I semi-frequently meet iPhone users who show anything between surprise and downright disdain towards me because I don't have the right color of bubble.

It's never the other way around.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Where do you find these peeps?

[–] tzrlk@lemmy.world 1 points 53 minutes ago

Sewer oulets, I'm guessing.

[–] Alk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

Work, school (not anymore, but while I was in school), local events where I meet people, friends, etc.

[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 16 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

There was a big uproar amongst normies when the WhatsApp TOS changed......but people forget quickly and prefer convenience. That was our one chance to convert everyone over.

[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 6 hours ago

I stopped using it for 3 years, then I had to interact with a surgeon through it and reconnected with a fee people who still use it. I fucking hate using it

[–] AugustWest@lemm.ee 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

But then aren't you trusting your credentials to yet another application? That seems like a bad idea....

[–] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Fair point. The simplest answer is thrt any other business cannot possibly be as evil as meta, so even worst case is a net win.