Those who only use WhatsApp for personal messaging will see no changes to their experience, as all new features are confined to the Updates tab that can be deactivated in the settings.

WhatsApp will instead use the country, city and language of the user, as well as how they interact with other ads and which channels they follow, to drive suggested content. But people who have chosen to link their WhatsApp account to Facebook or Instagram will see more personalised ads.

The ads will be shown to users only within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate them from people’s personal conversations.