The popular messaging app WhatsApp was going to start displaying ads earlier this year. However, based on the recent report, seems like that Mark Zuckerberg has shed some light on the whole situation and it seems that for the time being, WhatsApp will remain ad-free.
This decision was taken keeping the backlash the company would receive, and it makes sense since not a lot of people were happy with the ads showing up on the app.
WhatsApp Will Not be Showing Any Ads Following Backlash
The report is coming from The Information, and here is what the report has to say,
After more than a year of preparation, WhatsApp was finally close to flipping the switch on advertising, kick-starting a plan to generate billions of dollars a year in revenue from one of Facebook’s crown jewels, which it had acquired for $22 billion six years earlier.
This is clearly a very ambitious statement but if you are to take this news seriously, just look at Instagram. Before Facebook acquired it, the app provided an ad-free experience, which has drastically changed now. However, Instagram's integration of advertisements is much different and we are not really sure how WhatsApp is going to handle the ads.
Moreover, the good news is that the plan to shelve the ads is definitely a good one for users, however, we are not sure how long it is going to stay in place.
Last fall, employees prepared to share details of the planned 2020 rollout at an internal sales gathering in Singapore. But after meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ahead of the event, Will Cathcart, the new head of WhatsApp, relayed to staffers that the plan to implement ads had been shelved. Employees who had already booked their flights for the sales conference canceled their trips.
The report also suggests that Mark Zuckerberg took this decision because pushing ads will definitely cause a backlash amongst the users. This makes sense considering how WhatsApp has over 2 billion users around the world, and a backlash from such a massive user base would not have been good for the company as a whole.
At the moment, we know that this pause is temporary, but let's see how long Facebook keeps this decision on a leash. Let us know your thoughts on this decision.
About the author: I have been tinkering with Android devices ever since the early days of the HTC Desire. Over time, I have grown a fondness for the ecosystem and now I cannot live without it. Although some might believe that I have sold my soul to Android, but I believe it is not the case. You can find me writing tutorials and posting guides on a number of different smartphones. When I am not writing here, I am wasting myself away in books, journals, or on Steam.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
