Rehan Shahid 
Dec 10, 2025
Meta on Wednesday confirmed that WhatsApp will soon show ads to more users while using channels and viewing other users' Status updates.
The American tech giant said that these ads will help users discover businesses and start communicating with them directly about the products or services. Users will have the option to see the advertiser's profile, report or hide the ad, and access more details with the latest update.
More ads to Status and Channels
The Meta-owned instant messaging platform has begun to display a pop-up message to select users informing them that they will begin seeing advertisements on the app. Personal messages, calls, and statuses will remain end-to-end encrypted and will not be used to show ads.
With WhatsApp's latest update, users can easily find new businesses, starting conversations about a product or service they're promoting in Status. By tapping the three-dot menu or 'More' options on an ad, users can see the advertiser's profile, hide or report the ad.
It is important to note that you can easily manage your ad preferences — according to your needs — by heading to Settings > Accounts Centre >Accounts settings section> Ad preferences.
However, if you want to hide a specific channel ad, you can tap the Sponsored button on the promoted Channel and select Hide ad. The Status ad can be hidden by heading to More Options (three vertical dots)> Hide ad.
