Dive Brief:

• Instagram has announced it will be opening up its advertising to all businesses — not just the hand-selected brands it works directly with now. 
• The photo-sharing app is also adding new data targeting options for marketers, from zip code to interests — similar to how ad targeting works on parent network Facebook.
• Analysts have already voiced concerns that in opening up the platform to all advertisers, Instagram risks losing control of the quality of the ads. Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer, told Reuters, "People are used to seeing beautiful brand imagery in their feeds. Now they will see some direct response ads and we all know the baggage that comes with that."

Dive Insight: 

Since Instagram introduced advertising a year and a half ago, it has been slowly rolling out new features like carousel ads and clickable links. The platform has always kept a tight grip on which brands could advertise and the content they were delivering. Companies that have been granted the opportunity to run ads on Instagram have experienced impressive results. Taco Bell, for example, saw a 400% higher engagement with ads on Instagram over organic posts — shortly after ads were introduced. 

Instagram has been working with a handful of retailers including Levi's and Banana Republic on fine-tuning, and previously only offered available targeting options of gender, age and country. The expansion will offer retailers, as well as all other brands, the opportunity to better reach their target audiences.