Instagram claims users still ‘have control’ as adverts begin to appear in Australian feeds
Adverts will start to appear in Instagram feeds across Australia from today in a move that could run the risk of antagonising users of the previously ad-free photo sharing business.
Tourism Queensland, Vegemite, Ben & Jerry’s, Toyota, Flight Centre, Audi, Lenovo, McDonald’s and Philadelphia Cream Cheese have been named as the launch advertisers for the platform.
Instagram, recognising the potential backlash from users, insisted the brands have been “carefully selected” and are “already great members of the Instagram community”, and said ads will be marked with a sponsored label and “will look similar to other photos and videos users will see in their feed”.
“We’ll also make sure that the user has control. If they see an ad they don’t like, they’ll be able to hide it and provide feedback about what didn’t feel right,” Instagram said.
![Tourism Queensland footprints[2]](https://mumbrella.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Tourism-Queensland-footprints2.jpg)
Advertising on the Facebook-owned site started late last year in the US, but has been slow to roll out internationally with Australia the third country to receive the facility after the UK in September.
Instagram insist the ads will be “seamlessly integrated” into the feeds and claimed they will be “as enjoyable and creative in much the same way engaging, high-quality ads are viewed when flipping through favourite magazines”.
Nevertheless, the move represents a risk to the business which said it needs advertising revenue in order to expand. At the Creative Fuel conference earlier this year Andy McKeon of The Creative Shop – Instagram urged creatives to think more about the visual elements to be successful on the site.
“Instagram has big ideas for the future, and part of making them happen is building Instagram into a sustainable business,” Instagram said in today’s release.
“Images are fast becoming a primary way that people communicate, in both the everyday and the spectacular,” said Amy Cole from Instagram market operations. “Our aim is to help brands create beautiful ads that feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos people already share and enjoy.”
Launch advertisers welcomed the move.
Darren O’Brien, President Cheese and Grocery Asia Pacific for Mondelez International said: “There’s no denying that social is part of the media ecosystem and if that’s where our loyalists are consuming content, brand participation is a natural extension of this.
“The Vegemite partnership with Instagram is an organic evolution of our approach to media – innovative and authentic – recognizing that this medium is at the forefront of driving brand engagement.”
Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) digital marketing director Chris Chambers described Instagram as “the perfect platform to showcase Queensland’s holiday credentials”.
Flight Centre head of customer experience Keith Stanley added: “Instagram is a wonderful avenue for us to engage with a community of passionate and aspiring travellers so we are very excited to be a part of this Australian-first.”
Boo hoo to the whingers…Instagram is free to use so get over it.
User ID not verified.
i have not noticed any on my feed yet, and I have an eye out for them, on face
value it might sound like a bad thing but i will reserve judgment. I have said it before but I will say it again…. It is a brand doing what it can to attract new business. I would suggest that the majority of people using social media today hand over information, and might hope it is not going to be used in a creepy way, but we know we can’t control this and still make information publicly available anyway.
Also I do plenty of customer value proposition work and consumers are always bemoaning the lack of a proactive approach on the part of brand/companies in targeting them and individuals. We all like to see ourselves as individuals and want a brand to show it really understands us and surely this is a great way to do that. Trust me if a brand engaged with me in a way that demonstrated they understood my love of all things Star Wars I would sign up in a minute.
User ID not verified.
User backlash. Hardly. Just like the massive backlash on Facebook and Twitter no doubt.
Will be very interesting to see how many people hide ads and provide feedback as to why they don’t like it. Not that this specific information will likely be publicly released anyway.
User ID not verified.
The sales model is simple and very sound. This will be a big success for Facebook here locally. It will eat into mag budgets in a noticeable way.
User ID not verified.