WhatsApp Bites the Ad Bullet

WhatsApp will now have advertisements, something its owner Meta had been planning for years but finally got round to implementing. The advertisements will be present in three locations within the app. One is through the tab at the bottom called Updates. The second is in Status within Updates. Its website informed potential advertisers: “People and businesses use status to share photos, videos, voice notes, and text with their contacts, which lasts for 24 hours. By showing ads in Status, you can help your business get discovered by new customers and make it easier for them to start a conversation with you, all within WhatsApp.” Another source of ad revenue would be through promoted channels which also exist separately from chats.
The change will not be a disruptive experience for users because ads will not appear within chats. WhatsApp stated, “The personal messaging experience on WhatsApp is unchanged, and personal messages, calls, and statuses are protected by end-to-end encryption and cannot be used to show ads.” When WhatsApp was founded, it was with the promise that no ads would be shown on the platform. But after its acquisition by Facebook, as Meta was earlier known, the platform grew exponentially but wasn’t being monetised sufficiently.

Smart Vision

Several firms have been working on models where AI-generated images can be easily shared on social media. Adobe, which had earlier released AI tools along with the mobile app version of Photoshop, has now released its first dedicated AI app called Firefly. It offers unlimited basic image generation, while charging extra for access to its premium models.

Searching With AI

When ChatGPT first exploded into public consciousness, many believed AI would ring the death knell for Google Search. But Google appears to be reinventing itself and integrating more of AI into its search engine. In the latest experiment, Google announced using Gemini to bring Audio Overviews to its platform. Anyone keying in queries into Google will now get responses with short audio explanations and links to useful web pages.

Adobe’s Ai Push

Meta, which believes that smartglasses will one day replace smartphones as the main computing device, has announced that it will launch a new pair of smart AI glasses under the Oakley brand. Meta already sells Ray-Ban smartglasses, and Oakley, known for its sport-specific tech products, will allow it to target athletes. Also, on the anvil are talks of Prada-branded smartglasses aimed at high-fashion consumers.

AdobeAdvertisementsartificial intelligenceGoogletechnologyWhatsApp