Instagram may have recently exceeded the 150 million user mark, but the photo and video sharing service owned by Facebook has yet to bring in any revenue. Today, Instagram confirmed that it will begin to show ads in some U.S feeds and that it will happen a little earlier than expected.
Previously, the Wall Street Journal said that ads would start showing up in 2014 but Instagram confirmed in a blog post today that "an occasional ad" will start appearing for U.S. users sometime in the next couple of months. The blog added:
Seeing photos and videos from brands you don’t follow will be new, so we’ll start slow. 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.
Much like how "Sponsored" news posts that show up on Facebook can be hidden, ads that are found in an Instagram feed can also be hidden by users, along with a chance for those same users to give any feedback on the ads. Instagram did not state which specific companies will be signing up to provide the first ads for the service.
Source: Instagram | Image via Instagram