WhatsApp has remained, until now, without invasive advertising for users, and with the news of implementing it, a wave of criticism and speculation around the subject has been expected. Even Millions of Users Have Commented that They Will Delete Their Account if this Happens or Move to Telegram.
WhatsApp currently has 2 billion users worldwide. This instant messaging application was founded in 2009 and then acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $22 billion. Undoubtedly, a great and important acquisition.
Who hasn’t heard of this app? People prefer it over others for its functionality, simplicity, and speed of communication. You can use it and send messages with a mobile data plan or Wi-Fi; create groups and statuses; send images, texts, files, GIFs, videos, audios, etc.
Although it is a very popular application, it still does not have ads or advertising; a very large field of opportunity for brands and companies around the world, which is why they wanted to implement WhatsApp Ads and thus monetize it. Just like on Facebook and Instagram.
In 2012, WhatsApp promised to never include advertising on its platform, and then Mark Zuckerberg, upon buying it, decided to continue with that promise; but the vice president of WhatsApp, Chris Daniels, confirmed in November 2018 that the application would show advertisements in the “Statuses”.
In 2019, images were even revealed of how this implementation would look, and it looked very similar to the ads in Instagram Stories. And that is how, in the past months, a series of rumors were created about it.
This year 2020, in an article in the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, it has been revealed that: “Facebook Inc. is backing away from efforts to sell ads on WhatsApp, in a retreat from a controversial plan that led the creators of the popular messaging service to resign more than 18 months ago, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Although, for the moment, a step back has been taken for WhatsApp Ads -news not yet officially confirmed- it does not mean that Facebook is not thinking about monetizing the application; rather, it is looking for a way to do it.
Be that as it may, what is known is that, for the moment, work is being done to find profitability for WhatsApp, and it is very likely that we will soon have new news about the future of the application. For the moment:
“The future of WhatsApp will now evolve differently. […] is focusing on creating other functionalities that allow companies to interact with regular users, such as catalogs that can show what a business has for sale”.
WhatsApp (WhatsApp Business) should be a tool that you must have well mastered and at hand, since the trend will be to expand this social network to the business environment, where users receive advertising; and if you know how to implement an adequate digital marketing strategy… You will surely have success with your brand!
