Instagram recently confirmed it would be bringing “Sponsored Posts” to your feed. Today the photo sharing service gave us a sneak peek into its strategy for sharing those ads. That image above is something American Instagram users will be seeing in their feeds soon.
That picture is a test post that will be pushing to Instagram users in the U. S. soon. It’s clearly marked with a “Sponsored” label in place of the time stamp. While bringing ads into our Instagram feeds isn’t the most popular proposition, it’s not so bad if they’re stills like this. It remains to be seen if auto-playing video ads will be included.
The company hasn’t announced a start date for sponsored posts, but assures us it’s starting slow. The first Instagram ads will roll out from just a “handful” of trusted brands. Instagram is owned by Facebook, but looks to be taking a more subtle monetization strategy.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
Instagram’s announcement follows below:
If you’re in the United States, you’ll see the sample ad above sometime in the coming week. This is a one-time ad from the Instagram team that’s meant to give you a sense for the look and feel of the ads you will see.
You’ll know a photo or video is an advertisement when you see the “Sponsored” label where the time stamp normally would be. Tap this label to learn more about how advertising works on Instagram.
We want ads to be creative and engaging, so we’re starting with just a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community. If you see an ad that doesn’t interest you, you can tap the “…” below it to hide it and provide feedback about what you didn’t like. This will help us show you more interesting ads in the future.
Our focus with every product we build is to make Instagram a place where people come to connect and be inspired. Building Instagram as a business will help us better serve the global—and ever growing—Instagram community, while maintaining the simplicity you know and love.
As always, you own your own photos and videos. The introduction of advertising won’t change this. If you have other questions about how advertising on Instagram works, you can learn more here.
Thanks for listening and for being a part of the Instagram community.