Facebook delays the delivery of ads in WhatsApp indefinitely
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 7:11 am
The Wall Street Journal revealed on Thursday, January 16, a turning point in Facebook's plans for WhatsApp – the very popular messaging application bought by the company in 2014 and used by at least 1.5 billion people worldwide. While Facebook was supposed to open the application to the broadcasting of commercial ads, this project has been "frozen" , reports the American daily. This, while online advertising, the broadcasting of which can be targeted using users' personal data, is Facebook's main source of wealth, fully at work in its other applications (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger in the first place).
In May 2019, Facebook unveiled , during a conference to marketing professionals, a preview of the ads that would be able to be broadcast in WhatsApp “statuses.” Such advertising spaces would open up in 2020, the company explained to potential advertisers. WhatsApp “statuses” are the equivalent of “stories” on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger: the feature allows each user to broadcast an image or video temporarily, for twenty-four hours. This is one of the ways that brands use, particularly on Instagram, to broadcast sponsored and targeted ads, between two “stories” posted by users.
Project postponed “indefinitely”
Contacted by Le Monde , Facebook does not deny the overseas chinese in canada data information from the Wall Street Journal and explains that the plans to open WhatsApp "statuses" to advertising are postponed. This feature remains "a possibility in the long term" , but no launch date is currently planned, according to Facebook. And the hypothetical arrival of other advertising spaces within the application is not mentioned.
"Right now, the team is focused on how to help businesses" on WhatsApp, Facebook explains to Le Monde. WhatsApp wants to move forward in this area by providing brands with "payment solutions" directly accessible in the application.
"In 2019, WhatsApp launched the "catalogs" feature to help businesses showcase their products and services. It's one of the ways we have for brands and their customers to communicate ," Facebook says. The "catalog" option allows so-called "professional" WhatsApp accounts (online stores, clothing brands, etc.) to provide information on the products they sell. It's easy to imagine that purchasing solutions directly in these "catalogs" could be lucrative, both for WhatsApp and for the companies wanting to sell their products there.
Such payment solutions – for example: purchase buttons on ads – already exist on Instagram, and Facebook makes no secret of wanting to unify certain functions within its main applications. Purchasing and payment are part of this. Its Libra cryptocurrency project, sharply criticized by regulators around the world – and already considered by some to be a “failure” , plans, for example, to be able to be used directly in Messenger and WhatsApp, to pay and get paid with the virtual currency.
Protection of personal data
Such a turnaround comes as Mark Zuckerberg's advertising projects for WhatsApp had previously generated tensions with the teams of the mobile application, created in 2009 on the principle of respect for personal data and the confidentiality of messages.
In May 2019, Facebook unveiled , during a conference to marketing professionals, a preview of the ads that would be able to be broadcast in WhatsApp “statuses.” Such advertising spaces would open up in 2020, the company explained to potential advertisers. WhatsApp “statuses” are the equivalent of “stories” on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger: the feature allows each user to broadcast an image or video temporarily, for twenty-four hours. This is one of the ways that brands use, particularly on Instagram, to broadcast sponsored and targeted ads, between two “stories” posted by users.
Project postponed “indefinitely”
Contacted by Le Monde , Facebook does not deny the overseas chinese in canada data information from the Wall Street Journal and explains that the plans to open WhatsApp "statuses" to advertising are postponed. This feature remains "a possibility in the long term" , but no launch date is currently planned, according to Facebook. And the hypothetical arrival of other advertising spaces within the application is not mentioned.
"Right now, the team is focused on how to help businesses" on WhatsApp, Facebook explains to Le Monde. WhatsApp wants to move forward in this area by providing brands with "payment solutions" directly accessible in the application.
"In 2019, WhatsApp launched the "catalogs" feature to help businesses showcase their products and services. It's one of the ways we have for brands and their customers to communicate ," Facebook says. The "catalog" option allows so-called "professional" WhatsApp accounts (online stores, clothing brands, etc.) to provide information on the products they sell. It's easy to imagine that purchasing solutions directly in these "catalogs" could be lucrative, both for WhatsApp and for the companies wanting to sell their products there.
Such payment solutions – for example: purchase buttons on ads – already exist on Instagram, and Facebook makes no secret of wanting to unify certain functions within its main applications. Purchasing and payment are part of this. Its Libra cryptocurrency project, sharply criticized by regulators around the world – and already considered by some to be a “failure” , plans, for example, to be able to be used directly in Messenger and WhatsApp, to pay and get paid with the virtual currency.
Protection of personal data
Such a turnaround comes as Mark Zuckerberg's advertising projects for WhatsApp had previously generated tensions with the teams of the mobile application, created in 2009 on the principle of respect for personal data and the confidentiality of messages.