Well, it had been coming. Since Instagram updated its Terms of Service in December – prompting much anger within the community – where the company mentioned that it will be introducing ads into users’ feeds, Instagram has largely been quiet about the whole thing…until now.
In its latest blog post, the company stated that ads will begin appearing on the feeds of users in the United States over the next couple of months. Instagram will be taking the implementation of ads very slowly, to ease the transition of current users, with the ultimate aim of making “any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already enjoy from your favorite brands”.
Also, Instagram moved to allay fears over user privacy among its billion-member strong community. Users’ photos and videos shall remain their own, and the introduction of ads does not change things. The community can also help “improve the Instagram experience” by providing feedback on ads, or hiding any particular ad from their feeds if they wish to.
