You might soon start seeing ads within WhatsApp
What's the story
According to reports, WhatsApp might start showing ads to users once CEO and co-founder Jan Koum leaves the company. Koum has already confirmed that he is quitting WhatsApp but the actual date of his departure is not known. The move comes after Koum clashed with parent company Facebook over the latter's approach to WhatsApp's encryption strategy, and its attempt to collect user data.
End of an era
WhatsApp to get more open to advertisers
Facebook's VP of messaging products David Marcus said, "As far as advertising is concerned, we're definitely getting WhatsApp more open. We're going to have the ability to enable larger companies, not only small businesses, to integrate a new API to send and receive messages with people on WhatsApp." Analysts at financial services company Barclays confirmed, "Once Jan leaves, that's when the ads show up."
To monetize or not
WhatsApp and Facebook's strained relationship over encryption
It is also being reported that Facebook might fade away some of WhatsApp's existing encryption facilities, which could be one of the breaking points for Koum. However, in response to his announcement of leaving, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said, "Encryption and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it in people's hands will always be at the heart of WhatsApp."
Information
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp has been so far ad-free
If WhatsApp indeed starts selling ads, it could generate truckloads of revenue in very short time with its 1.5 billion monthly users. It is also possible that the company rolls out a premium subscription for a small fee that allows the platform to remain ad-free.
Bygone principles
A 2012 WhatsApp blogpost explaining why it doesn't show ads
In 2012, WhatsApp was a paid-for service at a $1 annual subscription. Notably, Facebook had acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. It said, "We knew that we could charge people directly and do what most people aim to do daily: avoid ads. No one wakes up excited to see more advertising, no one goes to sleep thinking about the ads they'll see tomorrow."