Meta is introducing ads to WhatsApp's 2 billion users

Meta $META said Monday that it will introduce ads to WhatsApp's Updates tab, “away from your personal chats.”

"This means if you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones, there will be no change to your experience at all,” Meta said.

The news comes more than 10 years after Meta purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014 without a clear plan on how to make money from the service. WhatsApp is now used by two billion people.

Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram, said it is putting advertising on the platform in "the most privacy-oriented way possible.” 

Personal messages, calls, and statuses will still be end-to-end encrypted, and the company said it will use limited personal data, like a person’s country, city of origin, and language, to target ads to individuals.

If a user's WhatsApp is linked to other Meta accounts, the company will use preferences from those platforms to inform WhatsApp marketing.

"We will never sell or share your phone number to advertisers,” Meta said. "Your personal messages, calls and groups you are in will not be used to determine the ads you may see."

The social media company was embroiled in a privacy scandal for years after it was revealed tens of millions of users had their data improperly shared with the former political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica in the U.K.

Ads in WhatsApp might prove needed to Meta's bottom line, as it invests billions on artificial intelligence.

The company said it doesn't plan to introduce ads within messages or chats.