Instagram has announced that it will start showing adverts within Stories - the slideshows of ephemeral photos and videos that appear at the top of the app’s feed.
The full-screen adverts, which users will be able to skip, will appear as posts in between those from users you follow.
Instagram said that 150 million people a day are now using Stories - the same as Snapchat's last public number. It launched the feature, which bears a striking resemblance to the Snapchat feature of the same name, in August.
Stories allow users to edit and post series of short videos and photos, each of which disappear after 24 hours.
But unlike the main Instagram timeline, which contains sponsored posts in between those from users you follow, Stories have so far been free of adverts.
The move represents a new challenge to Snapchat ahead of the app’s impending IPO by introducing a rival format for advertisers.
The adverts in the middle of Instagram’s Stories will be marked by a small “Sponsored” tag as well as being clearly from a different account. They will consist of a video up to 15 seconds long or a photo that appears for five seconds.
The adverts will appear when transitioning from one user’s Story to another, rather than in between individual posts.
James Quarles, the vice president of Instagram Business, said the adverts were designed for “reach” rather than immediately to drive sales, and would not have links to retailers or advertisers’ websites.
He said that a third of the Stories that were viewed already came from business accounts. As well as allowing adverts, Instagram is giving business accounts the ability to see new data on how many people were seeing their stories.
The adverts will begin next week, including in the UK, with brands including Universal and Asos.
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