Hey Instagrammers: prepare to be bombarded with ads
Instagram is about to become one of the most effective advertising platforms out there. Facebook and Instagram have announced a forthcoming open advertising platform for the picture-based social network.
Ads on Instagram are nothing new. Sponsored posts have been in the app as early as 2013, and they’re quite easy to ignore if you don’t mind having to scroll that extra bit more to get back to seeing your friends’ photos. This new development, though, will allow advertisers to create their own ad campaigns and target specific demographics.
This is not unlike the way Facebook ads are handled, though that’s no surprise. We imagine the company will take care not to try and overload your timeline with so many ads that you can no longer easily check up on your friends.
In fact, it’s Instagram’s hope that the experience won’t be all that different from what you’re already used to, except now ads can come from any Joe Schmo with a business. The worst of our worries would be seeing some pretty bad ads (learn how to make $5,000 per second by doing nothing!), but that’s about it.
We always feel iffy about ads invading our social networks, but the reality of it is that these companies don’t work for free. Facebook has to make good money on their lucrative purchase, after all, so you’ll have to either accept it or find a new home for that food porn.
[via Instagram]