WhatsApp has expanded the Updates tab with new tools, including Channel Subscriptions, Promoted Channels, and Ads in Status. These features help businesses and channel admins grow and engage their audiences while maintaining user privacy and keeping messages, calls, and phone numbers completely private.
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Story about? | Channel Subscriptions - Status Ads |
| Status? | Announced |
| Availability? | These features are expected to be released in an upcoming Android and iOS update. |
| I've installed the latest version but these features are not available. Why? | These new features are not currently available to everyone, even if you're using the latest version of WhatsApp. They will become available gradually over the coming weeks. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.19.2: what's new? WhatsApp is rolling out 18 additional color options for chat themes! |
CHANNEL SUBSCRIPTIONS - STATUS ADS
Last year, WhatsApp introduced Meta Verified for the business app, an optional subscription service designed to help businesses demonstrate their authenticity and become more trustworthy in the eyes of their customers. By subscribing to Meta Verified, businesses undergo a verification process to confirm their authenticity, and once approved, they receive a Meta Verified badge that signals their profile has been authenticated by Meta. Now, WhatsApp is extending the approach of optional subscription plans by announcing new features designed specifically for the Updates tab, helping businesses and channel owners raise awareness about their companies and channels.
Through an official blog post, WhatsApp has just announced several important additions to the Updates tab experience. First, WhatsApp is introducing Channel Subscriptions, allowing channel owners to offer exclusive content to their followers for a monthly fee that they set themselves. Each subscription lasts 30 days and grants subscribers access to special updates or perks that are not available to non-subscribers. Once a channel owner enables the subscription plan, a diamond icon will appear in the top app bar to indicate the availability of exclusive content. This creates a new way for creators and businesses to monetize their channels and deepen engagement with their most loyal followers.
WhatsApp is also introducing Promoted Channels. This allows channel admins to advertise their channels directly within the channel directory. By promoting their channel, admins can increase visibility and attract new followers, which is especially useful for channels that are just starting out and want to build a larger audience. Promoted Channels provide a powerful tool to help channels stand out in a crowded space and grow organically by reaching people who might be interested in their content.
Finally, WhatsApp is adding Ads in Status, a new way for businesses to reach potential customers through advertisements displayed in the Status section of the Updates tab. These ads are carefully designed with privacy in mind. WhatsApp uses only limited information to decide which advertisements to show, such as the user's country or city (determined through coarse location data), the language they use in the app, the channels they follow, and how they interact with ads they see. For users who have linked their WhatsApp account to Meta's Accounts Center, additional information like ad preferences and data from other Meta accounts may be used to improve ad relevance.
It is important to note that WhatsApp's strong commitment to privacy protections remains unchanged. This means that personal and group messages, calls, and status updates continue to be safeguarded with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only the sender and recipient can access the content. These private communications are never used in any way to generate or target advertisements within the app. Additionally, WhatsApp will never sell or share users' phone numbers with advertisers, as their commitment to user privacy remains a top priority and it is integral to maintaining trust on the platform.
All these new experiences are designed to be available exclusively within the Updates tab in the future, ensuring a clear separation from users' personal chats, group conversations, voice and video calls, as well as community interactions. This approach guarantees that there will be no interruptions, distractions, or changes in how users engage in their everyday conversations. As a result, interactions within the main chat interface and other core sections of the app will remain completely free of advertisements and promotional content.
For businesses and channel admins interested in getting started with these new features, WhatsApp provides more detailed information on their official business website. These additions mark a clear step forward in giving businesses and creators new ways to grow, engage, and monetize their presence on WhatsApp without compromising user privacy or the core messaging experience.
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