Social media giant Meta Platforms (META) announced today that ads are coming to WhatsApp, but only in the Updates tab, not private messages. This change is part of a larger plan to help businesses and creators grow on the platform without bothering regular users. Indeed, Meta made it clear that if you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends or family, your experience won’t change, and your messages will still be private and end-to-end encrypted.
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Interestingly, the Updates tab is already used by 1.5 billion people daily and has features such as status updates and Channels. Now, it will also include three new features:
- Channel subscriptions – Pay a monthly fee to get exclusive updates from your favorite channels.
- Promoted channels – WhatsApp will help you discover new channels by boosting their visibility.
- Ads in Status – Businesses can promote products or services directly in the Status feed, where you can quickly message them.
Meta says that these changes are designed with privacy in mind, as ads will only be based on limited information, such as a user’s city, language, or which channels they follow. If the user’s WhatsApp is linked to Meta’s Accounts Center, that data may also be used. However, messages, calls, and phone numbers will not be shared or sold to advertisers. It is worth noting that Meta’s ad business is already booming—it grew by 16% to $41.4 billion during the last quarter—and this update may strengthen that growth. Moreover, the new features will roll out gradually over the coming months.
Is Meta a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 42 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average META price target of $699.81 per share implies that shares are fairly valued.
