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Fortune

Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

WhatsApp introduces ads, fulfilling a plan its cofounders hated so much they left over it

WhatsApp Brian Acton Jan Koum Meta Facebook Instagram

(Credit: Patrick T. Fallon—Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The cofounders of WhatsApp resisted ads in the app for years, including after the company was acquired by Meta for $22 billion in 2014. Brian Acton and Jan Koum left the company in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and on Monday Meta introduced ads in the Status feature as well as sponsored Channels in the the Updates tab of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp cofounders Jan Koum and Brian Acton never wanted to include ads in their messaging platform, but current owner Meta moved forward Monday with a plan to do just that.

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