The end of an ad-free WhatsApp.

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.

  • nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    4·
    24 minutes ago

    WhatsApp getting ads is great news! WhatsApp, and any other meta/facebook/for-profit-social-network will never be a good product. Therefore, the second best alternative is for it to be as bad as possible, so people finally change to worthy alternatives.

    What is the alternative here? Don’t know, perhaps Signal, though the devs are not welcoming at all. The UI is absolute shit. Looks like UI for old people, huge margins and empty space. My screen fits like 3 chats. A compact theme would take a few hours to create and vastly improve the product, but ya…

      • buttnugget@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        9 minutes ago

        I believe it is centralized but it is certainly an alternative to WhatsApp. My understanding is that it’s encrypted and privacy centric.

    • ace_garp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 hour ago

      Yes, encrypted chats packetised over SMTP layer.

      Smooth as silk for a year and a half.

      Send pics, voicemails, files, videos, and video-chat(via Jitsi integration)

      Arcane-chat app does location sharing too.

  • Ronno@feddit.nlEnglish
    15·
    4 hours ago

    This is such great news! More ammo to use when trying to convince friends and family to move away from WhatsApp

  • Auth@lemmy.worldEnglish
    25·
    5 hours ago

    • provide free app at a loss

    • grow massive user base and market share

    • squeeze your userbase for every cent they’re worth

    Every single time. We got to solve the funding issue some how, I dont want to live in a future run by ads.

    • Susurrus@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      39 minutes ago

      It’s not very easy to solve the issue of infinite growth in a world with finite resources. The fundamental issue is that it’s just not physically possible, but they keep trying. Either we continue this cycle and eventually destroy the planet irreversibly, or we acknowledge that maybe money isn’t everything, and that maybe [the vast majority of] people aren’t inherently egoitistical monsters, and we move on to different systems.

    • bonjour@mander.xyzEnglish
      71·
      4 hours ago

      WhatsApp was not free and already had a massive user base before Facebook bought it.

      Hope this will turn people to alternatives.

    • hansolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
      1·
      3 hours ago

      Eastern Europe loves the app Viber that Rakuten bought, which has had ads for years.

      People LOVE a walled garden of their friends are there, too.

  • Corn@lemmy.mlEnglish
    62·
    2 hours ago

    Do you have WhatsApp?

    No Telegram?

    I dont have that one, none of the clients seem to work on my phone… Wechat?

    Cant verify, SMS doesnt get through. LINE?

    lol I dont have a japanese number. Kakaotalk?

    No… …discord?

    Sure!

    Shit he’s 30 seconds from finding out Im a furry.

  • t_berium@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 hours ago

    Looks like I need an alternative. An alternative for which there is still no prospect of enshitification. Which services are neither American, Chinese nor Russian? Anything from Europe?

    • teolan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      14 minutes ago

      Signal is American but run by a non profit so it can’t be sold and is open source under GPL3 without a CLA from what I can see so it’s unlikely they would ever go closed source.

  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 hours ago

    I wonder whether Meta will try to lock down cross platform access now.

    Currently Beeper still works everywhere and EU’S DMA (Digital Markets Act) still has WhatsApp as gate keeper which is required to interpolate with other chat apps. However “WhatsApp stories” are entirely different from chat so that means they can block all of that and this is probably how Meta will approach future WhatsApp updates - more shit to lock people in WhatsApp that isnt directly chat related because thats the only way to show people ads.

    • tarknassus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      55 minutes ago

      All our clients use it. It’s bloody annoying. I have dozens who use WhatsApp, and like three who use Signal. Ironically, the three that use Signal also use WhatsApp and guess which one they use to contact us?

      It’s a problem when it’s got mass market traction to get people to switch. I’m still trying to get off Messenger but some people insist on it… Going to have to get firm about that.

    • insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      All of my community groups are on there, including the school parents one. My choice is to not participate in the community or have Whatsapp… Or worse, Facebook.

      • oppy1984@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        5 hours ago

        I have a buddy in Japan who was a foreign exchange student here in the U.S. years ago. When he went back home I had to use Line to talk to him, I tried for years to get him to use Signal and after years of nagging he agreed to start using Discord… well at least it’s not Whatsapp…

      • Ronno@feddit.nlEnglish
        5·
        4 hours ago

        One of the first movers, so many chat groups are still on there and it’s very difficult to make people move. Many people simply don’t care about privacy, ads, user experience and what not, they just want the convenience of staying in the chat groups they are already in. A shame really.

    • imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      3 hours ago

      I had to do it because many use it and I was not. If you want to communicate in certain parts of the world, this is the only way. I wish everyone would go to Signal or Telegram but everyone are not me.

    • aceshigh@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      5 hours ago

      Some of us don’t have another choice. All (but 1) of my support groups are on WhatsApp and only 1 is on signal.

  • zebidiah@lemmy.caEnglish
    19·
    10 hours ago

    I literally just got my senior citizen dad off Skype and over to WhatsApp like 2 years ago… Ain’t no way I can get him over to signal

  • Mark@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    13 hours ago

    “We will never show you ads in WhatsApp. We promise”. --Facebook when they bought WhatsApp and promised the previous owner not to force ads in the app…