Instagram gives us first look at in-stream advertisements

Jake Smith | 24 October 2013

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Instagram has released the first images of what advertising will look like on its platform. The Facebook-owned company previously announced advertising would land on its product later this year, drawing complaints from many users who want an ad-free experience.

Looking at the images released by Instagram, the advertisements won't be too intrusive and will fall in line like a normal image or video. A sponsored tag will be found to the top right to signify the paid-for content.

The first partners for Instagram ads have been announced. Adidas, Ben & Jerry's, Burberry, General Electric, Lexus, Levi's, Macy's, Michael Kors, PayPal and Starwood will be filling your Instagram stream to begin. Instagram hasn't detailed how often advertisements will appear, but has said they will be exclusive to US users at the start.

"Seeing photos and videos from brands you don’t follow will be new, so we’ll start slow," Instagram said earlier this month. "We’ll focus on delivering a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community."

If a users sees an advertisement they're not fond of, they can tap the "..." button to hide the ad and provide feedback about what didn’t feel right. "This helps us improve Instagram ads over time," Instagram said. To get users used to the idea of ads, the company will roll out a sample Instagram ad sometime in the coming week.

Instagram's growth has been astounding, so it would make sense for the company to monetise the platform. In April, Instagram announced that its platform was half comprised of Android users. That's just one year after launching on Android, as it was an iOS-exclusive previously. Instagram has stayed away from ads since 2010, but the time has now come.

"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," Instagram said.

After all Instagram is a business, so making money makes sense, right? After seeing the images released by Instagram, what do you think of the company's approach?