New Delhi, July 12, 2025 – Meta has officially rolled out ads on WhatsApp, a move announced today that has caught the attention of millions of users. The messaging app, which boasts 2.4 billion users worldwide, will now show advertisements, starting with its “channels” feature. This change comes after years of promising a free, ad-free experience, a promise that founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton held when they started WhatsApp in 2009.
The decision seems to be about making money. With India alone having 549.9 million users, according to recent stats, and the app’s business version growing to 200 million users by 2023, Meta sees a big opportunity. Ads will let businesses promote their channels, and the company says it won’t use private message content for targeting. Instead, it plans to use optional data sharing with other Meta apps like Instagram.
But not everyone is happy. Some users on X are worried about privacy, pointing to a 2021 backlash when WhatsApp tried to update its terms. A study from the Journal of Cybersecurity that year noted that even without message content, metadata like call times and contacts can reveal a lot about people. Others think premium plans to remove ads might come next.
Meta says the ads will be limited to certain areas of the app. This shift follows trends like increased ads on Prime Video and YouTube. As WhatsApp users adjust, the debate over convenience versus privacy is heating up, with many waiting to see how this plays out in the coming months.
