{{articledata.title}}

Investing.com-- Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock climbed 2.8% in pre-market trading after the social media giant announced plans to introduce advertising on WhatsApp for the first time, potentially opening a significant new revenue stream.

The company revealed it will add ads to WhatsApp’s Updates tab, which is used by 1.5 billion people daily. The new monetization features include channel subscriptions allowing users to pay for exclusive content, promoted channels to help increase visibility, and ads in Status that will enable businesses to showcase products and services.

Meta emphasized that these changes will not affect personal chats, which will remain end-to-end encrypted and free from advertising. The company positioned the Updates tab as the appropriate place for these commercial features, keeping them separate from private conversations.

This move represents a significant shift in Meta’s approach to WhatsApp, which has historically remained largely ad-free since its acquisition in 2014 for $19 billion. The messaging platform’s massive user base presents a substantial opportunity for Meta to expand its advertising business beyond Facebook and Instagram.

The announcement comes as Meta continues to seek new growth avenues amid increasing competition in the social media landscape and ongoing challenges with privacy regulations.

This content was originally published on http://Investing.com