New Delhi, June 16 : WhatsApp on Monday announced that it will soon introduce advertisements and other paid features in a major shift for the messaging app, which has mostly remained ad-free since its launch.

The move marks WhatsApp's most significant step toward monetisation since it was acquired by Meta in 2014.

The company said the new advertising features will be limited to the 'Updates' tab, which includes Channels and Status -- features that are used by over 1.5 billion people daily.

It clarified that users who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging will not see any change in their experience.

Chats, calls, and groups will continue to be free from ads and will remain end-to-end encrypted.

"We've been talking about building a business that doesn't interrupt your personal chats for years, and we believe the Updates tab is the right place for these new features," WhatsApp said in a statement.

The new features include paid channel subscriptions, promoted channels in the Discovery section, and ads in the Status feature -- WhatsApp's version of Instagram Stories.

These updates are being rolled out gradually over the next few months and will first appear in select countries.

Users will now be able to subscribe to their favourite channels for a monthly fee and receive exclusive updates.

This feature aims to offer a new way for creators and organisations to earn money directly through WhatsApp.

Additionally, WhatsApp is introducing promoted channels. This will help users discover new and relevant content while giving channel admins a tool to improve their visibility through the directory.

This is the first time WhatsApp is offering a promotion feature to enhance discoverability.

However, WhatsApp has assured its users that these new features are confined to the Updates tab and will not affect personal messaging.

"If you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones, there is no change to your experience at all," the company said in its official statement.

The announcement comes as Meta looks for new ways to make money from WhatsApp, which has over two billion monthly active users.

For years, industry experts have predicted that Meta would eventually introduce advertising on WhatsApp due to its massive global reach and high engagement levels.

While the exact launch dates for these new features have not been confirmed, WhatsApp said they will be introduced gradually and carefully, with privacy protections in place.

/IANS