You'll soon start seeing ads in your Instagram feed

Photo-sharing site Instagram is to roll out advertising to its UK users' feeds

Ads like this will soon start appearing on Instagram

Instagram is to roll out advertising into its UK users' feeds, following trials in the USA.

The Facebook-owned photo sharing site said in a post that the ads would roll out 'over the coming weeks', but it could start as early as this week.

The ads look just like regular Instagram updates, but are marked out with the word 'Sponsored' in the top right-hand corner. If a user doesn't like a particular brand appearing their feed, they can select to hide any ads from that company. 'This will help us bring you more interesting ads over time.'

'We're starting with just a few businesses that are already great on Instagram to make sure the ads you see are creative and engaging,' it explains.

Instagram will choose which ads to show to users based on your activity on Facebook (Instagram's parent company) and on Instagram. So you might see ads related to posts you 'like' on Facebook or celebrities you follow on Instagram.

Instagram that the introduction of advertising does not change the terms and conditions of photograph ownership - users will continue to own their photos and videos. When Instagram first announced that it would be incorporating advertising into the service last year, the language of the terms and conditions suggested that the company could use people's photos within ad-funded posts - much to users' annoyance. The company has since changed the wording to eliminate any doubt.

For those sick of having advertising slapped across every single service, it's worth remembering that celebrities have been hawking us stuff for ages - often receiving payment or free goods from brands in return for posting pictures of their products on social media. The only difference is that they don't have to place a 'Sponsored' icon in the corner of their photos.

Here are just a few examples. Some are more blatant than others.