See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
NIKE, Inc. (NKE) - free report >>
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) - free report >>
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
NIKE, Inc. (NKE) - free report >>
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) - free report >>
Image: Bigstock
At 150 Million Strong, Instagram Brings Skippable Ads to Stories
On Wednesday, Instagram announced that its Stories feature will debut skippable advertisements, and brands will soon be able to place five-second photos or 15-second videos between user content.
The popular photo-sharing app, which is owned by Facebook , launched Stories about 6 months ago. Users can post photo and video slideshows that disappear after a 24-hour period, a shamelessly similar concept to Snapchat Stories.
Instagram Stories’ ad style will also copy that of Snapchat’s, all in the hopes of creating a more natural viewing experience. About 30 top brands have already committed to begin testing these skippable ads later this month, including Nike (NKE - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , General Motors (GM - Free Report) , Capital One (COF - Free Report) , and many others.
Despite its penchant for copying, Instagram Stories is growing incredibly quickly. The platform now has 150 million daily active users, about as many users as the last number announced by Snapchat. It helps that Stories is located right at the top of the Instagram home screen instead of a separate tap.
Monetizing a young feature is risky, but it’s clear that Instagram believes Stories’ growth is strong enough to take on further competition from Snapchat and any drop-off in users that the ads may cause.
Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>>