Instagram Sponsored Posts

It started two weeks ago with the image below. It was a Test Suggested Post, did anyone notice it?

Instagram Sponsored Image

Well it’s official, we have started seeing real, paid for, sponsored posts. These posts will slowly start to trickle into your feed from a very select group of business that Instagram has chosen to work with. The ad below is Michael Kors and the other businesses you can expect to see sponsored posts from are adidas, Ben & Jerry’s, Burberry, General Electric, Lexus, Levi’s®, Macy’s, PayPal and Starwood.

Michael Kors Instagram Sponsored Image

First, let’s take a look at the elements of a Sponsored post
– There is a blue wheel with upward pointing arrow in the center. This icon will appear in the upper right hand corner. It will also clearly indicate that it is a sponsored post.
– The ellipsis at the bottom does not have the same function. Rather than “Report, Tweet and Copy Share” it’s function is HIDE and Learn More. This makes it very easy to hide posts you do not like, or that may offend you. Luckily Instagram is pretty good about keeping things clean.

Next, what do we learn in the Learn More section?

Does Instagram let advertisers use my photos or videos?
No. Your photos are yours and the ability to advertise on Instagram does not change that.

“Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service.
Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service, subject to the Service’s Privacy Policy, available here http://instagram.com/legal/privacy/, including but not limited to sections 3 (“Sharing of Your Information”), 4 (“How We Store Your Information”), and 5 (“Your Choices About Your Information”). You can choose who can view your Content and activities, including your photos, as described in the Privacy Policy.”
Learn More about Instagrams Terms Here

What if I see an ad I don’t like?
You can simply hide ads and provide feedback in the “…” button under the ad. This is a good thing to do, it will help Instagram in the long run.

How does Instagram decide which ads to show me?
Instagram wants to show us ads we are interested in. Because Facebook owns Instagram, they take information from both accounts and show us images they gather we will be interested in.

Click the image below to learn more.