WhatsApp may display personalized ads using your Facebook data

Since last year, Facebook has been looking for ways to display ads in WhatsApp. We have reported on the possibility of that happening in 2020, but then, earlier in the year, Facebook reportedly abandoned those plans and decided not to monetize the app for now. The team, responsible for designing a way to introduce ads to WhatsApp was disbanded and the already developed code was removed from the app.

However, a new report from The Information (via TechRadar) shows that the tech giant has not completely given up on advertising on the popular messaging app. What’s more, Facebook is reportedly planning to use its Facebook database in order to deliver personalized ads to users.

Additionally, Facebook reportedly plans to use phone numbers in order to match up the accounts people have in Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to one pool of user data, even though it seems that the tech giant does not plan to merge the three platforms into one app. Based on the common pool of information, Facebook will then show you ads that target your interests, on all three platforms.

At the moment, though, this is not announced as a soon-to-come feature to WhatsApp and the tech giant does not offer any potential dates. According to The Information, integrating the infrastructure of the three platforms is going to take some time, and WhatsApp seems to be the hardest piece of the puzzle, as it offers end-to-end encryption, while Instagram and Facebook Messenger don't.