TechCrunch: Instagram Stories Hits 150 Million Daily Users, Launches Skippable Ads

Instagram ruffled some feathers after launching its Stories features in August of last year, which strongly mimics Snapchat. Now, Instagram has hit 150 million users (out of 300 million) posting Stories, which are a series of images and videos that stay posted for only 24 hours. Looking to monetize this feature, Instagram announced today the launch of skippable ads mixed into users’ Stories. For brands that choose to post Stories on Instagram, those accounts will be provided with “analytics on the reach, impressions, replies and exits of their Stories.”

To begin rolling out the Story ads feature, Instagram is first starting with 30 partners, including Nike, General Motors and Netflix. According to TechCrunch, 70% of Instagram users already follow a business, while a third of the most watched Stories were created by businesses for Instagram. As of now, there is not yet an option for users to click on the Story ads, but Instagram is working on that feature. “In the future people might want to buy a click or buy a video view and those would be measured differently… We plan to incorporate that in the coming months,” Instagram’s VP of business James Quarles told TechCrunch.

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