It was only a couple of days ago when it was revealed that Facebook had plans to monetize Instagram. However given the phrasing of their words, it seemed that this monetization strategy could still be a long way off and it was only in its planning stages, but thanks to Instagram’s recently updated terms of service, it looks like that plan has begun to take shape. In the updated TOS, Instagram has slipped in this little gem:
“To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata) and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”
Basically what this means is that the photos you upload, the meta-data like the location you uploaded it from and etc. can be used to help generate ads on Instagram or Facebook, similar to how Facebook generates ads based on the Pages that you like and so on. Instagram has also updated its privacy policy which now states that Instagram can share your information with companies that Instagram is part of, i.e. Facebook, which means that not only will your Likes on Facebook help the social network figure out what sort of ads to serve you, but now your posts on Instagram will contribute to that as well. What do you guys think of these updated policies?