"Instagram that Ad!"

A couple days ago, Instagram users were confused to find Michael Kors ads of macarons and an exorbitantly priced watch chilling together on their feed. As expected, the users found the bothersome ads unnecessary and aggravating. Although the level of hatred has partially diminished since then, it seems pretty clear that the end of Instagram's ad-free era has come to a conclusion.

The $1 billion company that was sold to Facebook is undoubtedly taking meticulous steps to ensure that its users are not driven away by the influx of ads on their feed. The Michael Kors advertisement is the first (and only at the moment) advertisement that has signaled to not only the users, but to the investors that Instagram will be trying to monetize on its (hopefully) lucrative advertisement platform. In the near future, Instagram users can expect to find other advertisements from companies such as Adidas, Levi's, GE, and more.

Advertisement is clearly a major source of profit for many of these social media companies. Earlier in the week, Facebook announced Q3 earnings that beat investors' expectations and recorded $2 billion in revenue with a significant portion of those earnings driven by mobile advertisements. On the other hand, Twitter is working very diligently to secure advertisement deals away from TV as well and hoping to nail its IPO that will take place in a couple days. Now, Instagram has made its foothold into the $37 billion advertising market. It will certainly be interesting to see how much of a boost the advertisements will make on Instagram's earnings soon.