WeChat bites the advertising bullet

WeChat, the online messaging application that has about 468 million monthly active users, kicked off an advertising program on Sunday with three advertisers debuting on its content sharing platform.

Advertisements for Coca-Cola Co, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd, which is based in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and Chinese smartphone maker Vivo Communication Technology Co Ltd were shown on Sunday night in the Moments timeline of WeChat, the social networking app owned by Shenzhen-based Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The advertisements look like Facebook's News Feed and users are given the right to opt out of the advertisements if they are not interested.