WhatsApp To Start Showing Ads In 2020, How Will This Affect Users?

SachinSangwan - Jun 02, 2019

Last year, we learned that WhatsApp has plans to include ads in its app. Now, it was announced that the status ads will come next year.

Last year, we learned that WhatsApp has plans to include advertisements in its Stories Feature (Status). The company was expected to launch ads this year, and now, during the Facebook Marketing Summit, it was announced that the status ads will come next year.

Mark Zuckerberg's aim to monetize WhatsApp has led to the resignation of the co-founders of the platform. Among them, Brian Acton said that Zuckerberg was in a rush to earn money from the app and emphasized the encryption technology. Acton said that targeted ads displease him. This was the foremost reason behind the WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum and Brian Acton left the company.

People are not happy with this decision of WhatsApp. So maybe WhatsApp would lose its users.

WhatsApp-will-have-ads-starting-2020-1 — WhatsApp will have ads from 2020

Privacy and security with users' personal data is a big concern

WhatsApp will start ads soon in the status tab, but what about end-to-end encryption? And what about user privacy?

The company said that due to end-to-end encryption, it can't access user data. But it's simple to figure that once the platform shows ads, it will need to access data for ad targeting. Unless it's based on consumer data, ads can't be relevant.

There might be another way, where WhatsApp will use Facebook data of its users to display ads on WhatsApp status, but that is possible only if the user has a connected Facebook account.

Ads-in-WhatsApp-may-look-like-this-2 — Ads in WhatsApp may look like this

We can't tell whether the app will maintain end-to-end encryption, but privacy activists have already had concerns. If end-to-end encryption is gone, the government will also be able to access user data.

What's even more terrible is that these ads will be targeted to an individual, which means Facebook will be actually reading your messages and throw personalized ads on your WhatsApp account. As usual, brands will have to pay for any content they push to an individual account.

Indian WhatsApp users may switch to other platforms

While the messaging service is currently widely used in India, the fact that ads will come to the app has displeased several Indian users, who have gone on Twitter, suggesting that they may use other options.