Business users of WhatsApp will be able to send commercial messages with an offer in the future. A few years after its acquisition by Facebook, WhatsApp advertisers will finally be offered opportunities to advertise.
Advertising in the app?
On Thursday, the company adjusted the user agreement, making it possible for WhatsApp advertisers and their businesses to communicate with customers via WhatsApp, which was prohibited until now. For example, from now on it could be a message your bank about a potentially fraudulent transaction, or getting notified by an airline about a delayed flight, WhatsApp explains in a blog.
Moreover, WhatsApp will be coordinate more to Facebook, so that better friend suggestions can be sent and more relevant ads can be shown. WhatsApp emphasizes that the privacy of the user is not an issue because the messages can be read only by the sender and the recipient.
“But by coordinating more with Facebook, we’ll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp.”
The company wrote in the blog post.
“And by connecting your phone number with Facebook’s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them.”
The app also promises that the content of messages and phone calls will not be shared with Facebook.
