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Zuckerberg: Ads On Instagram "When the Right Time Comes"

Posted by samzenpus on from the old-looking-ads dept.

An anonymous reader writes "During his company's quarterly earnings call, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed how Instagram will be monetized. The answer isn't too surprising: there is a big expectation for the app to one day be profitable, and advertising will be the name of the game. 'Kevin [Systrom] has always been clear that we're building Instagram to be a business,' Zuckerberg said. 'We expect over time to generate a lot of profit from it. We think the right focus for now is to continue increasing the footprint of Instagram and, when the right time comes, we'll think about advertising.'"

25 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Companies are not charities... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, but I really expected a better lie than "ads". It's like he doesn't even try anymore.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Already sick of ads on fb by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Adblock Plus isn't catching them now, as they're randomizing the tag identities and refreshing periodically.

    Because of obnoxious ads I abandoned Yahoo ages ago, this could drive me away from fb.

    Great, they have to make their money on ads, I don't have to like it and if I can work a way to block them I will.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      dunno.. chromes abp works just fine for fb.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by Redmancometh · · Score: 1

      Only because google doesn't want anyone muscling in on their territory

    3. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Actually earlier today someone used "got this news from fb already" and it took me awhile to understand it meant Facebook. I guess enough people use that service now that it's assumed that only dangerous outsiders avoid it. I'll go report to CENTRAL Central Intelligence now and turn myself in, will save time.

    4. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by Hobadee · · Score: 1

      Facebook Purity is a Greasemonkey script which will fix Facebook for you. Check it out.

      --
      ...Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed.
    5. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      I'm not seeing ads on my FB and I think the only thing I've got "blocking" them is Adblock Plus... maybe they're not interested in grumpy old men?

      I've looked to see if ABP is current and it is, same for update of Chrome. While I've generally ignored the little suggestions off to the right and not had a problem with them, the "suggested" content in the middle of the feed is pretty obnoxious - ads for dubious investment companies, pharma junk, fitness junk, the usual crap you see on late night TV or obscure cable channels.

      The content is by pretty much the same people who plug things on my satellite radio, which make me turn down the volume and forget to turn it back up for about 20 minutes.

      This isn't Ford, Chanel, Holiday Inn, US Airways, Dell Computer or Coca Cola type advertising, it's near the bottom of the barrel.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    6. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by hobarrera · · Score: 1

      What?
      I haven't seen a facebook ad in... well... months. And even then, it was because I was using a PC that wasn't mine and didn't have adblock (yet).

    7. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      Facebook only makes people more antisocial.

      You're doing it wrong.

      Maybe it's because I'm Gen-X, but for my circle (sorry, Google), Facebook makes us more social.

      "We're getting together at The Cedar Cottage Pub on Wednesday night. Who's in?"

      "Hey, who knows a kid-friendly pancakes place that's open on Sunday morning?"

    8. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by schnell · · Score: 2

      Great, they have to make their money on ads, I don't have to like it and if I can work a way to block them I will.

      You are the product on Facebook, and showing you ads is how they make money. If you don't like that business model, why are you using Facebook?

      Like you said, you don't have to like Facebook, and you don't have to like the way they make their money. So why not use Diaspora or some other liberated, un-exploitative, pro-freedom solution that won't trouble you with ads, rather than struggling to find a way to use Facebook in a way that violates their terms of service?

      Surely an evil, non-free exploiter like Facebook can't be so much better than a project that respects your freedom that you wouldn't rather use it instead? And once you explain to your friends how their freedom is being violated, won't they drop Facebook too? It seems pretty obvious to me.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    9. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Adblock Plus isn't catching them now, as they're randomizing the tag identities and refreshing periodically.

      Because of obnoxious ads I abandoned Yahoo ages ago, this could drive me away from fb.

      Great, they have to make their money on ads, I don't have to like it and if I can work a way to block them I will.

      Are you sure Facebook didn't pay off the the ABP folks like Google did?.

      Yes, Google paid ABP to whitelist their ads. And since they take payments to be put on their whitelist... it's conceivable other ad networks are there as well. And who knows where Google will go next - considering they own the vast majority of advertising companies out there, who knows if Google is pushing for their other companies to be added...

    10. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 1

      Just because there is free beer somewhere and folks want to have it, doesn't mean that they will or have to endorse the 'business model' of the people who give it away. It's kind of stupid to think otherwise.

    11. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      The problem is FB and all the others started with clean design and APIs. That's the way FB took the place of myspace. Then when enough people rely they use the network effect to be obnoxious. I feel no problem in blocking ads on FB even if I don't.

      If OTOH a site always displayed ads in some way, I'd fell uneasy blocking them.

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      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    12. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by helix2301 · · Score: 1

      There was a guy that used Facebooks own API to block ads maybe the same will happen with Instagram.

      --
      http://www.thetechnologygeek.org
    13. Re:Already sick of ads on fb by Blaze182 · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity, would you prefer a 1 off or yearly fee for ad removal? ($2?)

  3. Re:Companies are not charities... by ackthpt · · Score: 1

    It's a free service... did you expect them to give it away forever?

    Yes. They're tracking your every move on there and selling it.

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  4. We'll think about it... by Deflagro · · Score: 1

    I like that "We'll think about advertising" bit. Let's build a massive user base and mehhhh maybe think about the possibility of possibly having ads... maybe. Or you know, most definitely and the plan is already written :P

    Social media to monetize with advertising! This is news?

    --
    Der Tod ist der einzige Weg hier raus!
  5. Translation: by Bieeanda · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They'll start serving ads when they're confident that most of their users won't (or can't) move to similar sites. Make it popular, make it indispensable, even, then make it pay. People will put up with a lot of annoyances once inertia's set in.

    1. Re:Translation: by houghi · · Score: 2

      Make it popular, make it indispensable, even, then make it pay.

      Marketeer or drug-dealer? You decide.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    2. Re:Translation: by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      At what point will there not be other free options for posting your photos? It's not like there's a need for a critical mass of users to make a photo-hosting service worthwhile to a single user. IIRC, there are comments left on photos but I don't think that's a particularly important aspect -- I doubt anyone using Instagram values their social aspect over other social sites they're already using.

      afaik the value in instagram is the photofeeds of people you follow, not the filters or the hosting as such. that's supposedly why it was valued so high anyways, and that needs critical mass.

      never been an user though, so dunno. if I want to post some photos to my associates and random followers I'll just post it on fb..

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  6. When the right time comes by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

    Isn't this the catch phrase of those ads with the two old people sitting in separate outdoor bathtubs?

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  7. Re:Companies are not charities... by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 1

    More likely, the NSA is paying them to do it, or in other words, your tax dollars...

  8. Sure, now i will use instagram by drolli · · Score: 3, Insightful

    *slap palm on face*

    I will for sure process my photos on my local harddrive. If you want my content to place ads on, then fucking buy it. Until then i will cash out the 2 Euro per year which is costs me to host my photo collection on amazon s3.

  9. Aha by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, he's referring to when hell freezes over.

  10. Build Your Own Instagram by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

    I use Instagram but have been leery about it ever since the Facebook takeover. I've been working out a system to take any Wordpress install and turn it into an Instagram-esque system. With luck, I work out something that not only will let me replace Instagram with a system that I'm 100% in control of, but that will let others use it as well.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.