WhatsApp: Huge change coming to chat app soon

WhatsApp fans will soon be seeing a change coming into force and it could spark controversy.

WhatsApp users could soon see a shock change to the chat app.

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular chat app with over a 1.5billion users each and every month.

This year alone WhatsApp users have seen plenty of changes with the introduction of stickers and group video calling among other new features.

And now WhatsApp users could be about to see arguably the biggest change to the Facebook-owned chat app in years.

Whats new in 2019:

WhatsApp users are bracing themselves for the addition of adverts to the chat app in 2019.

Earlier this year it emerged that WhatsApp was planning on displaying adverts in the status section.

The news emerged after WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton revealed he left Facebook over a disagreement on how to monetize WhatsApp.

The forty six year old claimed facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and other executive wanted to send targeted adverts to users.

WhatsApp users will be seeing a big change come into force soon.

However, this was not an approach Acton agreed with WhatsApp having prided itself for many years on being ad-free.

He said, “At the end of the day I sold my company. I sold my user’s privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise. I live with that every day.”

Acton said Facebook also wanted to sell businesses tools to talk to WhatsApp users something he also did not agree with.

Also added, “Targeted advertising is what makes me unhappy.”

And in the aftermath of these comments, a WhatsApp spokesperson said that the chat app would begin displaying adverts in its status feature next year.

Later on WhatsApp vice president Chris Daniels said, “We are going to be putting ads in Status.”

“That is going to be primary monetization mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp.

It has not been revealed when 2019 WhatsApp will be rolling out the status adverts.

This change marks a huge first for WhatsApp with a chat app that has prided itself on remaining ad-free. And a large number of fans on Twitter already hit out at the decision. One fan tweeted,” WhatsApp Status will start showing ads from 2019. R.I.P WhatsApp.”

Another posted, “The moment I see an advertisement on my WhatsApp status I am uninstalling it.”

“Monetising every damn thing.”

blog post written by WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum on the chat app website explain the reason the co-founder wnated to keep it ad-free.

The post was written prior to facebook acquisition at a time when WhatsApp was still a paid-for service.

It said, ” These days companies know literally everything about you, your friends, your interests and use it all to sell ads.”

“When we sat down to start our own thing together three years ago we wanted to make something that wasn’t just another ad clearinghouse.

We wanted to spend our time building a service people wanted to use because it worked and saved them money and made their lives better in a small way.

We knew that we could change people directly if we could do all those things. We knew we could do what most people aim to do every day avoid ads.

WhatsApp tips and tricks – Cool features you didn’t know existed.

No one makes up excited to see more advertising no one goes sleep thinking about the ads they’ll see tomorrow.

We know people go to sleep excited about who they chatted with that day (and disappointed about who they didn’t).

We want WhatsApp to be the product that keeps you awake and that you for in the morning.

No one jumps up from a nap and runs to see an advertisement.”

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