After remaining ad-free since its inception, it’s been confirmed that the worlds biggest messaging platform, WhatsApp will begin displaying ads in the Status screen in the near future.
In an interview with Outlook India, WhatsApp Vice-President Chris Daniel confirmed the upcoming addition, stating
We are going to be putting ads in ‘Status’. That is going to be primary monetisation mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp.
It’s a disappointing change for users, particularly those who have paid the $1 annual fee to access advert free messaging in the past but perhaps foreseeable given the company was acquired by Facebook in 2014. The model of finance for Facebook is through targeted advertising, so why not utilise that data in WhatsApp to add some cream on the pie?
Regardless of the timeline, although it is expected to start within a few months time – there are sure to be users who will abandon ship for another platform that offers zero advertising such as Telegram (our current weapon of choice at Ausdroid), Line or BBM. Others will stick with the platform and endure the ads. The choice is yours and will be in part related to where you converse with your friends.
Will you take to another messaging platform when WhatsApp introduce ads, or simply grin and bear it as we generally do with Facebook>
As much as I’d like to switch to Telegram or something else, with 99% of family and friends using either WhatsApp or FB Messenger, it’s just not going to work. I’ll have to endure it until it gets too much, then delete it and so back to old school SMS/MMS.
I’ll try Telegram when that happens.
You should, it works a lot better. Cross device, web access without having to scan QR codes, video calls, etc etc etc.