Instagram gives us a taste of what its ads will look like

By now, you’re most likely aware that ads are coming to Instagram. Now we also know what those ads will look like.

Late yesterday, the Facebook-owned company posted an image showing how the ads will appear in your feed. Barring the “sponsored” signifier where the time-stamp usually sits, there’s not all that much to differentiate it from any other Instagrm post.

That’s pretty much in line with its stated aim for ads on the service. At the beginning of October, it said it wanted “make any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already enjoy from your favourite brands”.

According to Instagram, US users will see the above sample ad rolling out within the next week or so in order to give them a sense for the look and feel of the ads people will be seeing on the photo and video-sharing network.

The company says it wants the ads to be creative and engaging, and is therefore starting with “just a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community”. If you see an ad that doesn’t interest you, it adds, you can tap the “…” below it to hide it and provide feedback about what you didn’t like.

The need for Instagram is understandable, given that Facebook needs it to grow if its US$750-million plus investment is to be more than dead wood. According to the company:

Our focus with every product we build is to make Instagram a place where people come to connect and be inspired. Building Instagram as a business will help us better serve the global—and ever growing—Instagram community, while maintaining the simplicity you know and love.

Instagram also used the post to remind people that its users own their images and that the introduction of ads won’t change that.