We all hate ads being shoved in our face left and right, but don't be scared, it seems Instagram's new ad campaign will actually be pretty pleasant. Pleasant ads? Hard to believe we know, but Instagram is being very careful not to repeat mistakes made by Facebook when they first introduced ads. Instagram plans to slowly integrate these new "promoted" posts by allowing only a few, hand-picked, brands with successful existing accounts. Such brands include, Levi's, Ben & Jerry's, General Electric and PayPal. By only allowing access to these big, well funded brands, the posts are much more likely to be high quality, enjoyable photos. Here are two examples from Levi's and Instagram themselves:

As you can see, these are actually pretty cool photos. If you don't agree and would rather not see a certain add, you even have the ability to click on the "..." in the bottom right-hand corner and hide and provide feedback on the ad. This will help Instagram learn what you like and provide more appropriate ads in the future.

Will these ads continue to be visually appealing and unobtrusive as time goes on? We will have to wait and see. No one really likes ads, but it is refreshing to see that Instagram is making the user experience its number one priority. How do you feel about this new introduction?

Mike & Samantha