Tech giant Meta has unveiled a new set of monetisation tools for WhatsApp, enabling creators, businesses, and organisations to grow their audience and earn income directly from the app’s updates tab.
In a statement released on Monday, Meta confirmed the rollout of three major features: Channel Subscriptions, Promoted Channels, and Adverts in Status part of a broader strategy to allow commercial activity on WhatsApp without interfering with users’ private messaging experience.
“We’ve been talking for years about how to build a business on WhatsApp in a way that doesn’t interrupt personal chats. We believe the updates tab is the right place to introduce that,” Meta stated.
With Channel Subscriptions, users will have the option to pay a monthly fee for exclusive content and updates from preferred channels, including news organisations, influencers, and sports teams. This marks a significant shift in how creators can engage audiences within the app.
Meta also introduced Promoted Channels, a tool that lets WhatsApp recommend channels based on a user’s interests. This feature allows creators and organisations to boost visibility through paid promotions, helping them grow organically within the platform.
In addition, Adverts in Status will allow businesses to place targeted promotions within WhatsApp’s status section, mirroring the experience on Instagram Stories. These ads are designed to connect users with products or services directly, enabling real-time engagement with advertisers.
“Adverts in status or channels will be shown using limited data like your city, language, channels you follow, and how you engage with the ads,” Meta explained. “For those who’ve linked their WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Centre, advert preferences from across Meta platforms may be used. However, we will never sell or share your phone number with advertisers.”
Meta stressed that the newly introduced tools were developed with privacy in mind. Personal chats, calls, and group conversations will continue to be protected by end-to-end encryption.
According to the company, the features will be rolled out gradually over the next few months. Channel admins and business users interested in the monetisation options can already access detailed guidance through WhatsApp Business resources.
These changes position WhatsApp more prominently in Meta’s ecosystem of revenue-generating platforms while ensuring that the core value of user privacy remains intact.
