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,

WhatsApp says that users will start seeing ads in parts of the app, as owner Meta Platforms moves to cultivate a new revenue stream by tapping the billions of people that use the messaging service.

The days of “No ads! No games! No gimmicks!” are over. That was the slogan coined by one of the founders of WhatsApp, Brian Acton, which the other founder of the messaging app, Jan Koum, used to keep taped to his desk on a sticky note.