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WhatsApp is thankfully pulling back on its decision to display ads in the app

Two years of development down the drain.

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Image: WhatsApp

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If you’re one of the billion or so users of WhatsApp, you might be happy to know that your message feeds won’t be covered in advertising any time soon. That’s according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources close to the decision.

That marks the shelving of a two-year development cycle and keeps WhatsApp the only one of Facebook’s owned properties that don’t currently generate advertising cash.

Facebook has backed quietly away from its plans to introduce advertising inside WhatsApp

While Facebook has put its short-term plans for introducing advertising to WhatsApp, that doesn’t mean the long view matches. WhatsApp’s parent company will still be working on a way to turn WhatsApp into a similar revenue generator as Instagram or Messenger, starting with a renewed push for WhatsApp Business.

It’s likely that the current climate of anti-Facebook sentiment caused the pause on introducing advertising. I mean, why court more bad press, right? The company is already facing stiff opposition for its plans to integrate the back-end of all its messaging tools, not to mention the huge privacy scandals.

Whew, I mean it’s bad enough being pulled into group chats you didn’t want to be in without adding intrusive advertising to the mix.

What do you think? Glad to see WhatsApp pulling back on ads? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

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