Instagram has expanded its user base quickly over the past year, and today the online photo sharing service announced on its blog that it has now exceeded the 150 million user mark. In fact, Instagram"s announcement stated that 50 million new users have been added just in the past six months.
The blog post also said that over 60 percent of Instagram"s user base now comes from outside the United States. Even with all of those new photo sharing subscribers, the service has yet to generate any revenue for its parent company Facebook, which famously acquired Instagram for a cool $1 billion in April 2012.
That situation is going to change, and in the near future. In a new Wall Street Journal article, it reveals that Instagram will begin to sell ads that will run on the service sometime in 2014. Of course, ad banners might turn off many of Instagram"s fan base and that"s something that the company"s director of business operations Emily White seems to be well aware of. The article quotes her as saying, "We want to make money in the long term, but we don"t have any short-term pressure."
Instagram ads might center on its Discover feature that"s been made to help spotlight popular photos, along with its search functions, according to the article. With that many users, it"s only a matter of time before ads start showing up next to pictures of favorite travel spots or cute cats.
Source: Instagram and Wall Street Journal | Image via Instagram