Facebook is reportedly "backing away" from plans to sell ad placements inside WhatsApp. According to The Wall Street Journal, the team in charge of building ads into the Facebook-owned messaging service was disbanded in recent months, with the work they've done "deleted from WhatsApp's code."
But the app won't be completely ad-free. Facebook will still integrate it into WhatsApp's Status feature. Facebook will reportedly focus on WhatsApp features that will "allow businesses to communicate with customers and organize those contacts." WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton—both of whom have left the company—reportedly expressed concern about the impact a commercial messaging feature will have over the strength of its end-to-end encryption.
Source: The Verge