Instagram launched advertising today, as many realized after seeing this photo from Instagram as they scrolled through their feed this morning.

The comments from users were overwhelmingly negative (and ignorant) as many people threatened to leave the popular photo/video sharing mobile application.

I’m happy to see ads are being launched on Instagram. Most of the time people don’t know something exists until you put it in front of their face, and then when they do see it, they like it. We see this all the time when we run Facebook ad campaigns. The precise targeting of Facebook and now Instagram allows brands to target users in such a specific way, most of the ads users will see will be something they are already interested in anyway. For example, if you “like” a restaurant on Facebook, you might see a Sponsored Post from them on Instagram, and you can choose whether or not to follow them or interact with their post. Most likely you will, because you already have shown an interest in the company/brand.

Instagram is just gearing up for what looks to be a very profitable 2014. Forbes recently reported in an article “Investment in Social Media Will Become a Necessity, Not a Luxury” that investing time and resources into a social media strategy is most definitely a necessity in 2013, but the tipping point in public sentiment from ‘should have’ to ‘must have’ will occur in 2014. Businesses are already coming to terms with the need to integrate their social media efforts with their content strategy, and are seeing the impact of social media in terms of lead generation, referral traffic, and revenue. This certainly includes Instagram.

CNN published this today:

Instagram is taking great pains to make initial ads attractive and in-line with the sepia- and sunset-soaked Instagram brand. It’s handpicking the early advertisers, choosing big names that already have Instagram accounts including Levi’s, Ben & Jerry’s, General Electric and PayPal.

Well-funded brands will likely spring for high quality, original photos that blend in better with a regular feed of photos from friends. If your friends are iffy photographers, the ads might stand out for being a bit prettier than you’re used to.

I myself am not one to follow many brands on Instagram besides the big players, @NatGeo, @Nike, @RedBull to name a few, but that could change if Instagram gets it right with their targeting capabilities. I’m very interested to see what starts popping up in my newsfeed and unlike the mass majority, not upset at all.