WhatsApp is officially getting ads
Meta says it will tailor the ads to your interests by using “limited” information, including your country or city, language, the channels you follow, and how you interact with ads on the platform. You can also change your ad preferences from Meta’s Accounts Center if you’ve opted into the hub.
And the other shoe drops!
For weeks Meta has been relentlessly advertising, on billboards, bus stops, podcasts and across online media, that “no one can see what you do on WhatsApp, not even WhatsApp”. It’s end-to-end encrypted, so it’s safe.
I found this a peculiar campaign to run. It clearly wasn’t targeted at any particular social group. WhatsApp has strong market penetration in the UK. Why did they choose this moment to go big on an issue I don’t think Joe Public would even have been thinking about?
Ads.
Ads were coming.
That’s why.
