The end of an ad-free WhatsApp.

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.

  • t_berium@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    6 个月前

    Looks like I need an alternative. An alternative for which there is still no prospect of enshitification. Which services are neither American, Chinese nor Russian? Anything from Europe?

    • teolan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      6 个月前

      Signal is American but run by a non profit so it can’t be sold and is open source under GPL3 without a CLA from what I can see so it’s unlikely they would ever go closed source.

        • teolan@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          6 个月前

          Signal also has been a leader when it comes to encryption and metadata protection. Their cryptographic protocols are public domain and are the gold standard for private messaging from pretty much every perspective other than decentralisation. (it’s still centralised)

  • minorkeys@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    6 个月前

    Nothing better than having a private conversation with my friends and having some dude lean in to remind us that Brawndo, the thirst mutilator, has electrolytes.

  • zebidiah@lemmy.caEnglish
    20·
    6 个月前

    I literally just got my senior citizen dad off Skype and over to WhatsApp like 2 years ago… Ain’t no way I can get him over to signal

  • ieatpwns@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    6 个月前

    That must be the reason they’ve been putting out more ads about chats being secure between both chatters. A misdirection so they can personalize your ads to your conversations

  • rustydomino@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 个月前

    The problem is there are very few alternatives that will work for grandma and her friends, especially open source alternatives. This is why WhatsApp and LINE are stupidly popular.

    • Raiderkev@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 个月前

      I had to use LINE for work a few years ago to communicate with the Philippines. Awful app.

      • rustydomino@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 个月前

        Awful depends on your point of view. Is it easy to message and call your friends and make group chats for free? The answer is yes. The fact that the interface sucks and is ad-ridden is irrelevant to older aunties and uncles.

  • TomMasz@piefed.socialEnglish
    26·
    6 个月前

    Meta has been running ads claiming no one can read your WhatsApp messages, including them. For some reason, I’m not 100% sure about this. It’s hard to imagine they can resist grabbing all that data for their AI somehow.

    • Hadriscus@jlai.luEnglish
      19·
      6 个月前

      Of course they fucking grab it. They have 45 backdoors with golden handles otherwise they’re show the fucking source

  • Wispy2891@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    6 个月前

    the channels you follow

    I knew they would use that info for targeted advertising

    It’s Facebook 101, let the users themselves tell you what they like

  • SilverShark@lemmy.worldEnglish
    35·
    6 个月前

    I wished Whatsapp wasn’t a thing so much. There are so many so much better apps. Signal is so much better and it would work fine for the vast majority of people.

    • Scolding7300@lemmy.worldEnglish
      131·
      6 个月前

      Unfortunately “better” varies from person to person. Signal is behind on features, e.g. WhatsApp has integration for businesses (customer support).

      I hope my monthly donation will help but we must realize for some some features are important, I guess that for most it’s how many ppl they know is there/unwilling to lead a migration

      • SilverShark@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        6 个月前

        Yes, this is right. Saying arbitrarily “better” leaves a lot out.

        I must admit that using the business integration for customer support has lead me to really good experiences. Especially not having to call, wait 20 minutes under a ring tone, and talking over a line with very low sound quality.

      • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.orgEnglish
        49·
        6 个月前

        Nobody in their right mind wants to use Whatsapp for getting support. That is insane. I want to message people and do group chats. That is it. Anything else is bloat.

        • hraegsvelmir@ani.socialEnglish
          13·
          6 个月前

          Lots of people in Brazil and many Spanish a speaking companies would disagree with you unfortunately. It’s incredibly embedded in those countries, to the point where WhatsApp will often be the primary, and sometimes only, point of contact for a business. At least it’s not that bad here.

  • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
    6·
    6 个月前

    through its Stories-like status feature.

    Eh, I’ve only seen it because of a misclick