Instagram Is Testing Ads That Use 3D Touch And Apple Pay

Instagram has been showing ads as sponsored posts in user timeline for some time now. But, a new report claims that the company is now working on a new type of ads that will integrate with new iPhone features like 3D Touch and Apple Pay. According to Digiday, the company is looking to boost the in-app shopping experience with these new ads.

The 3D Touch integration, a long press on the “Shop Now” button could give users access to multiple offers or items instead of just one. The addition of Apple Pay aims to add to the “frictionless shopping” experience by letting users purchase something they see directly within Instagram, without having to visit the brand’s own app or opening Safari to complete the purchase.

From an innovation standpoint, Instagram is where a lot of brands are putting the most eggs.

Force touch gets interesting, because instead of quickly tapping Shop Now to buy this one thing, you can choose from two or three offers. It makes for more frictionless shopping.

Instagram launched a Shop Now button in June, and it has carousel ads for brands to highlight multiple product images. Since Instagram opened its ad platform to all buyers, there have been signs that the quality of the sponsored posts has gone down. Instagram used to closely vet every bit of marketing for quality, but it will be challenged to maintain those standards as it expands.

Some in the ad world are concerned about Instagram’s commercialization due to the heavily-marketed advertisements being tested on the platform could lead to its downfall, suggesting the photo-focused service is best left as a “branding opportunity” for companies and leaving the sales portion to its parent site, Facebook.

I don’t want to see Instagram jump the shark on this. Let it be what it should be for now.

It shouldn’t be injecting all this direct-response [sales] execution. That’s where Twitter lost its way.