Australia is among the list of countries about to be inundated with Instagram major brand advertising after the online video-sharing app approved an international in-feed ad rollout.
Users in Australia, Canada and the UK will see ads appear on their mobile devices in the coming months, similar to last November’s US partnership with the likes of Adidas, Levi’s, Lexus, Taco Bell and Ben & Jerry’s.
Instagram owners Facebook say a similar tactic will be used when the ads go international.
“We are taking it slow and we want to make sure we get this right,” a Facebook spokeswoman told The Australian. “Instagram is about imagery over identity and creativity and craft win on Instagram.
“The best advertisers on Instagram will have a strong sense of the IG platform and how to interact with the community.”
International advertisers have yet to be named, however an estimate of just 34.9 million American users by advertising consultancy company eMarketer suggests a significant chunk of the social media network’s 200-million users reside outside of the US.
The influx of advertising hasn’t have appeared to impacted Instagram’s business. The company has already more than doubled its initial expected number of users in two years and added 50 million new accounts in the six months after introducing sponsored messages.
“It’s a logical next step for Instagram to roll out advertising in these English-speaking countries, enabling global brand advertisers to extend their Instagram efforts outside the US,” eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson told the BBC.
“Instagram has purposely been cautious about rolling out ads in the US, so I expect a similar cautious and calculated rollout in these countries.”
Facebook acquired Instagram for a cool $1 billion in 2012 when the platform consisted of just 30-million users at the time of buyout.
