Discord will have third-party ads

Discord is planning to introduce advertising mechanisms for additional monetization, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources. Advertising slots will likely be available for game developers.

According to information from WSJ, the ads will be displayed on the bottom left of Discord's interface. Users will be given the opportunity to interact with the ads, including receiving bonuses for running certain games.

This direction for the service seems unexpected, given previous statements by Discord developers in 2021 about minimal data collection and no plans to integrate ads. Users are expected to get an option to disable ads, though details of such a feature have not yet been disclosed.

According to The Wall Street Journal's sources, the innovation could be implemented in Discord as soon as the coming weeks.