From now on, backups of the correspondence history in Google Drive will count as part of your storage quota. Until now, WhatsApp users on Android have enjoyed a rare benefit: since 2018, these backups have not taken up valuable space in Google's cloud.
According to WhatsApp's support page, the change will take effect during the first half of 2024. The company states that a banner will be displayed in the account's backup settings 30 days before the change takes effect. It seems to be gradually coming to users around the world.