I talked with a professor of advertising to make sense of what this means for all of us who use those social media platforms.

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.

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.