16 Jan Instagram To Start Selling Ads In Stories | Social You Should Know
Now that they have 150 million daily users looking at Instagram Stories, the social platform is going to start selling ads between different people’s stories. That, and much more, in this week’s Social You Should Know.
Instagram Ties Snapchat in Daily Users? Offers Ads
Instagram is reporting 150 million daily users of its Stories feature, which ties the last number Snapchat announced. You might remember that Instagram Stories were designed to challenge Snapchat as they were basically a feature copy. Instagram will now capitalize on this significant traffic by selling 5-second photo ads and 15-second video ads. They will appear in between different people’s stories and can be skilled easily. The ads will not be clickable, at least not at this point. Instagram as a total platform has 600 million monthly users and 300 million daily users, which suggests that 50% of daily users view Stories.
Facebook Appears to Censor Posts in Thailand the Government Objects To
A journalist and a dissident in Thailand noticed that some of their posts were not accessible to people in Thailand. The posts had not been removed, but were not visible to anyone accessing them through a Thai IP address. As social networks look to go worldwide, including in places with stricter laws on information flow, they are struggling to balance American values of free speech and laws in these countries. It’s not a problem only limited to social networks. Google has struggled with how to approach the massive Chinese market for years.
Snapchat Competitor Snow Grows Rapidly Across Asia
Speaking of global aspirations, “Snow” a Snapchat knock-off that is popular in Asia, has exceeded 100 million downloads last month. They now claim 40-50 million monthly users, which would be roughly 1/3 of the size of Snapchat. Facebook tried to buy Snow, but it fell through. Back in September, Snow raised $45m in a round that valued the service at $180 million.
As we head out, video continues to be an emphasis for social networks, with Twitter adding live 360 videos and Facebook finding new ways to try to drive more Live views as well.
