WhatsApp announced new ways to generate revenue and promote content on Monday, June 16, in order to "help businesses grow their business," Will Cathcart, its director, told Le Monde. Owners of "channels," a tool used by companies, shops, influencers, or media outlets to broadcast messages widely on the platform, will now be able to make these channels paid: They can offer users the option to pay a monthly subscription fee.

WhatsApp will also allow them to improve the visibility of their channel in the search results of the channel directory, for a fee. And those who wish to can now display ads within "statuses," which on WhatsApp are equivalent to "stories" – the short video format popular on Instagram.

These new features, such as "channels" and "statuses," only apply to the "Updates" tab, Cathcart emphasized. "If you're just using WhatsApp to chat or call, nothing's changing," he said, adding that encrypted conversations, found in the "Chats" tab, do not contain any advertising.

Business model

Indeed, unlike Meta's other free applications, Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp is not designed for targeted advertising and struggled for a long time to find a viable business model. The company decided to focus on services for businesses. Has Meta's subsidiary now found its balance? With more than 3 billion active users each month and 1.5 billion daily users for the "Updates" tab, "we do generate significant revenue with our existing business more than it costs to run WhatsApp," Cathcart said, referencing an annual turnover of "billions of dollars."

For example, WhatsApp offers businesses the ability to handle part of their customer service through messaging, as Air France does. Cathcart also mentioned small businesses and shops, particularly in India and Latin America, which have neither websites nor apps and advertise on Facebook or Instagram with a "Contact us on WhatsApp" button.

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