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WhatsApp is officially getting ads (www.theverge.com)
submitted 1 year ago* by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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WhatsApp is rolling out ads. In an update on Monday, Meta announced that it will now show ads from businesses through its Stories-like status feature.

Meta says it will tailor the ads to your interests by using “limited” information, including your country or city, language, the channels you follow, and how you interact with ads on the platform. You can also change your ad preferences from Meta’s Accounts Center.

This isn’t the only change Meta is making to WhatsApp. The company will also start showing promoted channels when you click on the Explore button to find new ones to follow. It’s also rolling out the ability to subscribe to channels to “receive exclusive updates” as well.

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[–] 43 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm forced to use WhatsApp chat so I keep it installed begrudgingly. But who the fuck is using WhatsApp stories?

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  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    I use Beeper which shows me a unified view of whatsapp and Signal and others. whatsapp itself has zero permissions on my phone. I hate that I need to have it at all but Europe is deep into that. Sigh.

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  • [–] 24 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    There was a big uproar amongst normies when the WhatsApp TOS changed......but people forget quickly and prefer convenience. That was our one chance to convert everyone over.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    At least normal European people are locked into a platform that doesn't care what device you're using, unlike iMessage - so it's not all bad

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm an iPhone user and I've never met anyone that gave a shit about iMessage. In the past ten years.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    I'm an android user and I semi-frequently meet iPhone users who show anything between surprise and downright disdain towards me because I don't have the right color of bubble.

    It's never the other way around.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    The only iPhone users I ever met who cared were back when texting cost a lot, unless you had a special plan (there was one that made it free if the person you texted had the same plan). Then smart phones came and we all switched to Kik, then WhatsApp, then Messenger (some got both or an alternative). And now we have got free texting and calling across the whole EU, yet none of my friends uses it haha

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Whatsapp is popular a lot in many parts of the world. In India, WhatsApp is almost the defacto standard messaging app with Telegram probably flying in a far second. I doubt I know anyone who even uses stuff like Signal or Threema or any of the alternatives.

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