Sneaky advertising is annoying. People often use their social media following to their advantage, featuring paid content to promote products, but the problem is that they often don’t disclose that, leaving the consumer possibly tricked into believing it’s an honest endorsement. With both the FTC and Instagram itself taking notice of this problematic trend, the company is introducing a new feature to help eliminate the issue. 

Influencer marketing has become a huge industry, with top-level Instagram users receiving thousands of dollars for a single post. Whether through temptation or lack of awareness, many posts violate FTC guidelines that require they divulge the nature of paid content. Instagram is addressing this issue by introducing a new feature that allows users to easily tag sponsored content (which also displays an associated label to viewers) and automatically links metrics and insights on the post to both the creator and the associated business. 

Altogether, I think it’s a good step forward. I certainly wouldn’t appreciate it if I followed a photographer I admired and they secretly advertised a product as if they independently endorsed it. I’m glad to see Instagram cracking down on such misrepresentations.

Read more about it over on the Instagram Business Blog.