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Facebook sticks vid ads on faux retro photo app biz Instagram
Maybe it'll make some money off users now
Photo filter and poster biz Instagram has started serving up those pic and video ads it has been promising for a while now, with marketing from folks like Disney and the CW starting today.
The Facebook subsidiary said last year that it had “big ideas for the future” and they involved making money out of its user base somehow.
"Seeing photos and videos from brands you don't follow will be new, so we'll start slow," the company explained back then. "We'll focus on delivering a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community."
According to Ad Week, the first of these brands will include Activision, Lancome and Banana Republic, as well as Disney and CW, with ultra-short video ads that try to fit in with the general Instagram vibe.
Disney’s first slot is promoting movie Big Hero 6 and the video shows the animated characters posing as if they were taking selfies. The CW is promoting new TV show The Flash, with shaky handheld video that looks like it was shot by someone accidentally capturing a glimpse of the speedster superhero.
Instagram has been testing the ads for a few months now, but the official launch starts today. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
