You can’t escape it. This is the year advertising invades all social media, and Instagram becomes the latest one to embrace it.
In a blog post yesterday, the photo-sharing platform told US users they can expect to see photo and video ads showing up in their Instagram feeds in the next couple of months. Instagram has pledged that the ads will be as high quality, and beautiful and the pictures uploaded by users, so that they blend seamlessly with the experience.
From the blog post:
“Our aim is to make any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already enjoy from your favorite brands. After all, our team doesn’t just build Instagram, we use it each and every day. We want these ads to be enjoyable and creative in much the same way you see engaging, high-quality ads when you flip through your favorite magazine.”
Much like its parent company Facebook, Instagram will give users the option to hide ads they don’t like, as long as they can provide feedback on why they don’t like it. It also reassured users they will continue to own all the photos and videos they upload, meaning they won’t be co-opted by advertisers, something Facebook ran into some trouble with last month.
