After initial tests with selected users in channels, status images, and status videos, even more users could soon encounter ads in WhatsApp. Now, a beta version has revealed that these ads might be avoidable for users who are willing to pay for a subscription.
The WhatsApp messaging service is reportedly about to launch a WhatsApp paid subscription to eliminate advertisements. A recent report by WABetaInfo showed that matching code references exist in the existing WhatsApp beta on Android (2.26.3.9). They hint that there will be a possibility of the user being given a choice between a free, ad-supported and the paid but ad-free version in the nearest future.
WhatsApp ads for all users?
So far, WhatsApp has been mostly funded by its dependency on the framework of its parent organization Meta. Recently, some users have begun to see advertisements, although in the meantime they are not displayed in private chats and only in status updates or channels which can be accessed in the updates tab. These advertisements are claimed to be not personalized or targeted according to Meta. As such, chatting users who are discussing their cat should not be shown cat food advertisements on their phone. Meta is already advertising the feature of displaying ads to over 1.5 billion on its business website.
Users not interested in the ads can possibly consider the WhatsApp paid subscription by paying a monthly subscription of €4. The main aspects of WhatsApp, including the transmission of messages and calls, are likely to be kept free to all. This would imply that the ads would still be displayed in status updates, since recommendations of interesting channels will still be presented occasionally. This is likely to be distracting to many of the users.
The WhatsApp paid subscription will be mostly targeted at users who would appreciate having constant access to using when checking their status updates or browsing their channels. The abovementioned channel suggestions are also likely to be concealed by the WhatsApp paid subscription. There is a screenshot with a subscription fee of a month of 4 euro but this may be a dummy. Whether or when this new WhatsApp update is to be rolled out is not clear.
