The time has finally come; Instagram users will soon start to see advertisements in their feeds. The company recently announced that users in the United States will start to see video and image ads over the next couple of months from brands they don’t follow. Instagram knows people aren’t going to be happy about this, and has assured us that this process will will ‘start slow’ and deliver only a small number of ‘beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands.’ When it comes to displaying ads, Instagram is taking a page out of Hulu’s book. You’ll be able to hide ads you don’t like and give feedback about why you did that, which Instagram will use to customize your experience. We’ll have to wait and see what Instagram’s long-term ad plan looks like, but it sounds like in the short term, the ads won’t be too invasive or disruptive. You may not like seeing ads fill up your Instagram feed, but at least you’ll have time to adjust.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.