Meta (META.O) has introduced its first AI-driven ad targeting program specifically designed for businesses on WhatsApp, marking a significant step in monetizing the popular messaging platform. The announcement was made during a conference in Brazil on Thursday, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased the new tools via a video presentation.
This development represents a notable shift for WhatsApp, known for its strong emphasis on privacy and encryption, diverging from the traditional targeted advertising strategies used in Meta’s other platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
For several years, WhatsApp has been enhancing its app with commerce and payment features, including “business messaging” tools that allow companies to manage customer service interactions and send marketing messages to users who have opted in. Previously, these tools sent blanket messages to all consenting users. The newly introduced AI tools, however, will leverage user behavior on Facebook and Instagram to deliver more targeted messages, assuming the same phone number is used across accounts.
Guilherme Horn, WhatsApp’s head of strategic markets, highlighted the benefits for businesses, emphasizing that the AI tools will enable more efficient ad delivery to users most likely to engage. “This is crucial for businesses because they are paying for these messages,” Horn told Reuters.
Despite WhatsApp’s vast user base and the substantial $22 billion Meta paid for its acquisition in 2014, the platform has historically contributed minimally to Meta’s overall revenue. This new initiative reflects Meta’s intensified efforts to monetize WhatsApp.
Additionally, Meta introduced an AI chatbot at the conference, designed to handle business inquiries directly within the chat. This tool, aligned with Zuckerberg’s vision of automating business communications, will assist users with tasks such as finding catalogs and checking business hours, similar to other AI-driven customer service systems.
Meta also announced the integration of Brazil’s PIX, an instantaneous digital payment method, into WhatsApp’s payment tools in the country. PIX, developed by Brazil’s central bank, accounted for approximately 39% of transactions in Brazil last year and offers services akin to WhatsApp’s payment features, such as money transfers and business transactions. This follows WhatsApp’s move to enable payment services from competitors in India last year.
