This follows years of speculation and denials, pointing to Meta’s thriving urgency to turn WhatsApp’s massive user base into a revenue driver.

The messaging platform, which now serves over two billion people globally, is rolling out three commercial tools designed to help creators, businesses, and organisations promote content and generate income. 

These include paid Channel subscriptions, promoted listings for Channels in the app’s Discovery section, and targeted ads inside WhatsApp’s Status feature.

The changes will be limited to the Updates tab, which hosts both Channels and Status updates, and not the main chat interface where users exchange personal messages. 

Meta says this strategy aims to avoid disrupting the private, ad-free chat experience WhatsApp is known for.

“We’ve been talking about our plans to build a business that does not interrupt your personal chats for years and we believe the Updates tab is the right place for these new features to work,” WhatsApp said.

According to the company, the rollout is phased and may take several months to reach all users globally. While the features are business-centric, Meta insists that privacy is unchanged and personal messaging will not be affected or monitored for advertising.

“I want to be really clear about one thing: Your personal messages, calls and statuses will remain end-to-end encrypted. This means no one, not even us, can see or hear them, and they cannot be used for ads,” said Nikila Srinivasan, vice president of Product Management at Meta.

Instead, ads and suggestions will rely on basic device-level data such as language, city, and how users interact with the Updates tab. 

For those who have linked WhatsApp to Meta’s Accounts Centre, their ad preferences and Meta-wide activity may influence what they see, though not their phone numbers, private messages, or group activities.

“To show ads in Status or Channels, we’re going to use basic information like your country or city, your device language and your activity in the Updates tab,” Srinivasan added.

With this new development, Meta wants to transform WhatsApp into a multi-layered platform, one that accommodates both personal communication and business engagement. 

Until now, WhatsApp’s monetisation exertions had been largely restricted to business messaging tools and minimal ad tests.

This is the first time WhatsApp will allow businesses to push sponsored content in ways similar to Instagram Stories, while creators and public figures can charge subscribers for exclusive content via Channels.

The timeline for full global availability is not yet known but Meta has already opened up access to the features through its WhatsApp Business tools.

The post WhatsApp Breaks From Tradition, Set to Launch Ads in Updates Tab appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

However, here are a few additional steps you can take to add additional layers of security to your conversations.

1. Use Two-step verification to protect your account:

Activate two-step verification to add more security to your WhatsApp account. Once enabled, you will be asked for a 6-digit PIN when resetting or verifying your account.

This safeguards your account against phishing attacks and takeover attempts by scammers.

2. Always use the official app:

Make sure you’re using the latest version of the official WhatsApp. Your messages are only secure and private when using the official app. Make sure the logo looks correct, and the name of the app is just “WhatsApp”.

Fake apps pose security risks, including sending spam and scams to others without your knowledge. If you’re on Android and simply want two accounts on your phone, you can now add a second account using one official app (Learn more)

3. Safeguard sensitive information with disappearing options:

For greater privacy on your messaging experience, you can choose to send photos and media with View Once that will allow recipients to see the message only once without the option to save, forward, screenshot or share the message.

View once is also available for voice notes, allowing them to be played just once.

Switching off read recipients and using disappearing messages are other features to further protect chats that are important to you.

4. Protect your most personal chats with Chat Lock:

Add another layer of security to your intimate conversations with chat lock. It places a particular chat thread in a folder that can only be accessed by you. You can also create a unique password that’s different from your device password to protect chats that mention personal or financial information. In the event someone else gets access to your phone, chat lock will keep your conversations safe from prying eyes.

5. Be the best admin for your Group/Community:

If you’re the admin for your work WhatsApp group or your neighbourhood community, you can safeguard it to ensure it’s a place for meaningful connection and conversations.

You can decide who joins a group, restrict members’ permissions to make changes to your community’s subject, icon or description, even delete unwanted messages or remove members.

6. Protect against scams:

Scams can happen anywhere, via calls, email or messages. The first step to protecting yourself is to pause and think. If you receive a suspicious message that asks for personal information, verify if you know the contact, have common groups with them or is even coming from the country you’re in.

WhatsApp asks if you want to Block an unknown contact right away. Even later, it is easy to report and block suspicious contacts to keep your account secure.

7. Silence unknown callers:

Calls from unknown numbers can disrupt your day. WhatsApp lets you silence unknown callers, helping automatically prevent spam and scam calls.

8. Only link devices from trusted sources:

WhatsApp lets you link up to four devices to your primary phone for an uninterrupted chat experience. However, when linking your device to a desktop using a QR code, make sure you type in the URL web.whatsapp.com or have the official app (from whatsapp.com/download or the app store).

You can also review your linked devices by going to Settings>Linked Devices and logging out any device you don’t recognise.

9. Take the Privacy checkup:

Not sure about which privacy settings to use? Take the privacy check up on your WhatsApp app to know more about features that can keep your conversations protected and enable the features you need, all in one place.

The post Nine Ways to Ensure a Safer Messaging Experience on WhatsApp appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.