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Instagram rolled out its redesigned Explore tab in May, introducing topic shortcuts, direct access to IGTV, and more. In an update today, the company has revealed another addition to Explore: advertisements. Instagram users will begin seeing sponsored posts in the app’s Explore tab over the ‘next few months,’ the company announced this week.
According to Instagram, more than half of the accounts on its platform use the Explore tab every month to discover new content and 80% of accounts follow at least one business in the app. The company plans to bring these two realities together by introducing sponsored posts in Explore.
When an advertisement is encountered, users will see a direct link to purchase items from the company that paid for the ad, as well as a ‘Sponsored’ label below the brand’s name. Instagram presents the new addition as a way for advertisers ‘to be part of what’s culturally relevant and trending while reaching new audiences who are looking to discover something new.’
It’s unclear how many users currently see the advertisements, which Instagram says it plans to introduce ‘slowly and thoughtfully in the coming months.’ Users will simply start to see ads at some point over the next few months ‘as part of their browsing experience,’ the company said this week.
It’s unclear how often users can expect to see advertisements in Explore once they are fully deployed on the platform. The first advertisements will arrive today and direct users to Instagram’s own IGTV, The Verge reports. In the future, ads will include both images and videos. This marks an expansion of advertisements on the platform, where they can already be found in Stories and the regular user feed.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)