It has been a long time coming — seven years since Meta first announced its plan to do so, in fact — but ads are starting to appear in WhatsApp as of Monday. They'll only be visible on the Updates tab and the company says those who use the app only to chat with family and friends really won't see any change to their WhatsApp experience.

It’s official, ads are coming to WhatsApp. However, depending on how you use the popular messaging app, you may never see one. Hot on the heels of the welcome addition of a proper WhatsApp iPad App, WhatsApp has confirmed it’s introducing ads to the platform alongside a couple of other features for businesses and channels

WhatsApp’s Updates tab features let you reach 1.5 billion daily users through promoted channels, subscriptions, and Status ads.