Announcing the move on Monday, WhatsApp confirmed that it would start showing ads to users for the first time. It stated that the messages

WhatsApp has introduced new monetisation features that allow businesses and creators to earn directly from their content on the app.

The launch upends its founders’ original mission of creating an app with ‘No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!’ This week, WhatsApp did something its founders said it would never do: it’s putting advertisements inside the app. It ends WhatsApp’s decade-plus run of offering an ad-free messaging and calling experience.