Instagram will now show twice as many adverts - here's why

As the world’s most popular photo-sharing app, it’s no surprise that Instagram is worth a serious amount of money to companies who want to advertise.

But the near-constant presence of sponsored posts and paid-for adverts interrupting the stream of your friends’ holiday photos can be very annoying.

And now it is about to get worse, according to experts at The Information.

Instagram has been asked by its owners at Facebook to double the number of adverts it shows to users in a bid to increase revenue.

Adverts will increase revenue for Facebook

This demand ties in with the recent announcement that adverts would be placed on the Instagram Explore section of the app.

Explore uses algorithms to show you photos from accounts you are not following that it thinks you may be interested in.

Instagram announced: “Today, 80% of people follow a business on Instagram, and Explore can help them find the next business or product that they might love. Brands are an important part of the Instagram experience for people.

“Whether it's shopping, catching up on stories or discovering the latest trends, we see people actively looking to connect with brands they like.

“That's why, over the next few months, we'll be introducing ads in Explore feed.”

The boost in advertisements also includes those that are placed across platforms owned by Facebook, and so they’ll appear on multiple sites and apps.

Part of a wider project to ‘integrate’ apps

Earlier this year, it was announced that Instagram and Whatsapp, which are both owned by Facebook, would have their names changed to make their association with the social media platform clearer.

The two apps will soon be known as ‘WhatsApp from Facebook’ and ‘Instagram from Facebook’.

According to The Information, the idea is to bring the different platforms under the Facebook banner.