Facebook: Yeah, We’re Totally Going To Put Ads In Instagram Eventually

If you thought Facebook was going to acquire photo sharing service Instagram and not try to make any money off of it or otherwise change it for the worse, well, you’re either very naïve or you don’t know how the Internet works. Sure, users’ information can serve as currency for companies like Facebook, but making money by slapping ads into the social media mediums we love most? That’s just good business sense.

Business Insider talked to Facebook’s Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson who confirmed that there will be some “monetization” coming to Instagram.

Monetization, monetization… how would one go about monetizing a social medium? Yup. Advertising is likely going to squeeze in somewhere along with all those photos of feet/food/clouds/babies/cats/awkward self-portraits in the mirror awash in sepia tones and cute frames.

BI asked Everson, who’s in charge of ad sales at the very top of the pyramid, about Facebook’s plans for Instagram.

BI: Will you put ads in Instagram?

CE: Eventually we’ll figure out a way to monetize Instagram.

BI: How far are you away from figuring that out?

CE: Well, Instagram continues to grow incredibly fast and we’re still a very small team when you think about the amount of people they are reaching. There are many brands that use Instagram right now to try to get a feel for how to engage with their followers. We will definitely be figuring out a monetization strategy. When that will happen, I can’t comment, but it’s going to happen.

Translation — it’s growing fast and we’re terrified of leaking users who hate ads, so we’re trying to figure out the best plan of attack.

Enjoy your ad-free feed for as long as you can, Instagrammers. Because once those ads show up, we’re willing to bet you’re not going to like them.

FACEBOOK CONFIRMS: Ads Are Coming To Instagram [BusinessInsider]

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