The arrival of advertising on WhatsApp has been postponed until a later date: what's the reason? What does Mark Zuckerberg have in mind? Find out what's new!
2019 has been a year of changes for Mark Zuckerberg's apps. Alongside the novelties introduced on social networks, last May he had also announced the imminent arrival of banner ads on WhatsApp. Now the CEO of Facebook has postponed the debut of the ads to a date to be determined.
We do not know the reason for this decision, but it would seem that the focus has changed: they no longer want to monetize in the traditional way, but starting from the active interaction between companies and users. Probably it will focus more on the development of WhatsApp Business, the messaging app aimed exclusively at a professional use. One thing is certain: the codes related to advertising have disappeared from the application and the working team that was dedicated to the project has been permanently disbanded. What were Zuckerberg's intentions and why did he decide to back off? The Wall Street Journal described the news and advanced some hypotheses.
Advertising on WhatsApp: for now it's all canceled
The arrival of banner ads on WhatsApp would bring huge revenues to the company, especially since the app is used by 1.5 billion users. However, the CEO of Facebook has decided to block the entire project. The news was published in these days by The Wall Street Journal.
Last year, the same magazine had announced the arrival of ads within the app. In fact, initially Mark Zuckerberg wanted to introduce banner ads in WhatsApp States, the ephemeral content that can be viewed for up to 24 hours. The same initiative affected Instagram Stories that are now interspersed with sponsorships.
The API was almost ready but accessible only to companies and not to end users. This detail had put professionals on guard: at first, the ads would be limited to WhatsApp Business. However, the app is not as widespread as the original one: there are still many companies and professionals who still use the standard one for work.
Advertising on WhatsApp Business: why was it postponed?
The idea of monetizing WhatsApp Business was born in 2018: the first traces of the code related to the insertion of advertisements date back to that year. In May 2019, the company had previewed some examples of WhatsApp ads. The novelty was planned for last year, but now the project has been officially put on hold. Probably Mark Zuckerberg wants to increase the users of the professional app, which are still few compared to the standard one.
The messaging app for businesses: focus on WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business is an app independent from the standard one, for the moment available on Android Play Store. It is a solution designed only for professionals and not for end users.
In addition, the two applications are used with two different numbers: this is a convenient solution especially for those who use two SIMs, one for personal reasons and the other for work. In short, it is a tool designed only for corporate and commercial activities. For the moment, advertisements will be suspended on both applications, but sooner or later Mark Zuckerberg will find a way to monetize them, without charging users for a subscription.