Recently, Instagram decided to take advantage of their increasing popularity to implement advertisements into their current operating system. The objective of this update is to create a source of revenue for Instagram. With Instagram’s new layout, consumers are forced to view and scroll past advertisements in order to continue viewing other users’ content.

According to Instagram’s blog, they will “start slow” .  However, will this make a difference in consumers’ perceptions? Now-a-days, many individuals like jumping to conclusions after having the slightest bit of exposure to a new idea. It is understandable that Instagram is taking things slowly after seeing how Facebook’s dramatic changes impacted its consumers. However, an advertisement is an advertisement—little would enjoy them especially if they will be impeding the simplistic layout of Instagram. In addition, most people use Instagram for the sole purpose of posting or viewing content by other users. With the implementation of advertisements, users will just mindlessly scroll past the advertisements to view the content around the ad, which makes the ads useless. Regardless of users’ actions, Instagram would still be generating revenues from companies who place ads in this application.

The main consequence of this will be users who dislike the new look of Instagram may start using Vine, which can be considered to be Instagram’s direct competitor. Though some services are differentiated, most are similar—both programs allow users to post short video clips to share. If users start substituting Instagram with Vine, Instagram not only suffers a loss in consumers, but also a loss in future consumers due to bad reviews from previous consumers.  As a result, a cost-benefit analysis should be performed for this new implementation before creating further updates which makes it harder to go back. If it doesn’t work out, a new way of earning revenue should be sought.

Source: Instagram Image