Sponsored Posts On Instagram Will Now Have A Dedicated Label

There is an entire industry of “influencers” on Instagram who have built a significant following for themselves on the social network and they hawk products that range from diet teas to teeth whiteners. However, many don’t properly label their posts as advertisements even though it’s evident that they are being paid to push a product. The Facebook-owned service is now testing a dedicated label to better highlight sponsored posts on Instagram.

The Federal Trade Commission isn’t happy about influencer marketing where paid endorsements are not properly highlighted. It recently sent letters to more than 90 top influencers to remind them that they have to “clearly and conspicuously” when the products featured in their posts are sponsored.

Instagram’s Creative Programs Director Charles Porch said that most influencers just want a clear and standardized way to make these disclosures. So the service is testing a new tag for influencers that will clearly make this disclosure for them.

When this tag is applied to a post, it’s going to contain a “Paid partnership with” notification at the very top. Instagram is only testing this tag out with a handful of users and says that “there will be enforcement” once people are educated about this.

Does this mean we can expect Instagram to mandate that users add this tag whenever they post a sponsored photo or video? Seems like it.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Instagram