New WhatsApp 2025 update include status ads and a paid subscription option for channels, as well as the ability to have promoted channels.
WhatsApp’s 2025 updates will include status ads and a paid subscription option for channels, as well as the ability to have promoted channels.
These changes will not affect users who use the platform solely to chat with their contacts.
The News tab, introduced by WhatsApp about a year and a half ago, offers users additional experiences, such as statuses and channels, beyond simple communication with friends and family.
Nikila Srinivasan, head of business messaging at Meta, mentioned that this section, which is used daily by 1.5 billion people, will be the space where these features will be integrated.
As for channels, which were launched just over a year ago and allow companies to send messages to broad audiences, promoted channels will now be introduced.
The goal of this new feature is to “make it easier for users to discover new channels, that might interest them and allow administrators to promote some of their channels in the directory, seeking to attract more followers and improve the dissemination of their content,” he explained.
Additionally, paid subscriptions will be enabled for channels, allowing channel owners to “send exclusive, real-time updates to their most loyal followers.”
Like Instagram Stories, the new WhatsApp 2025 update allows users to share images, videos, voice messages, and text messages with their contacts for a 24-hour period.
Therefore, channels like businesses will now have the option to pay to appear in statuses, “making it easier to start a conversation on WhatsApp about a product or service,” Srinivasan said.
As an important point, Srinivasan emphasized that the new features will be available only in the News Feed. Therefore, if a user uses WhatsApp exclusively for private messaging, they will not have access to these new features or be affected by them.
Finally, Srinivasan emphasized that chats, calls, and personal statuses remain end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only the intended recipient can access them and that they are not used to display ads or report what users are viewing.