Any social network, especially one known for providing an authentic experience, is bound to generate negative sentiment whenever it injects ads. But this huge shift in how people feel about Instagram ads suggests the current balance is hurting its users. It is too early to investigate app data to determine if the change is having an effect on Instagram’s growth rate.
Whether the changes in ad frequency are permanent or not, I can’t say. We marketers are known for trying experiments, measuring the response, and making incremental improvements based on what we see. And despite requests, nobody from Instagram made themselves available to comment on the results of the survey, so I can’t offer any feedback direct from the horse’s mouth.
Naturally, Facebook needs to leverage the network and get a return on its significant investment, so it is no surprise that the number of ads seen in the stream is increasing. Other marketing technology experts are already rallying marketers to use Instagram now while ad competition is low. And I can tell you that marketers have reacted positively to the expansion of Instagram’s sponsored image platform — early adopters that I’ve spoken to are seeing good early results.
But for now, despite all the good news and loyalty to the app illustrated in this survey and the positive reaction from the marketing community, the Instagrammers themselves are definitely restless. And I can say that with a high level of statistical certainty.
