The ads will be shown to users only within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate them from people’s personal conversations.

While the app has long promised a privacy-first experience free from traditional ads, recent updates suggest that's changing, and changing fast.In a blog post published Monday, WhatsApp announced an expansion of its "Channels" discovery and business tools,

Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s director of product, previously told the FT that WhatsApp statuses were “the world’s most used stories product”. They allow users to post images that disappear after 24 hours. The Updates tab attracts 1.5bn users daily, the company said.