Instagram is to introduce advertising to its photo sharing app in the UK, with brands such as Cadbury, Channel 4, Rimmel, Sony Music, Starbucks among those to feature.

The company’s global head of business and brand development, James Quarles, told The Guardian that there will be a “slow-measured” introduction of ads.

The Facebook-owned app maker said it would start to include ads within its mobile product in the US. Instagram is to introduce advertising to its photo sharing app in the UK, with brands such as Cadbury, Channel 4, Rimmel, Sony Music, Starbucks among the brands to feature. The company’s global head of business and brand development, James Quarles told The Guardian that there will be a "slow-measured" introduction of ads. The Facebook-owned app maker said it would start to include ads within its mobile product in the US in October last year as part of an effort to build itself into a "sustainable business". Quarles said that in the UK, Instagram is starting with "brands who already have a very strong presence on Instagram", and is aiming to provide a natural experience. The ads used in the US enable users to like, comment on or hide ads from their feeds, and the approach will be the same in the UK. Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in April 2012 said in March that it had reached 200 million users, a 10-times increase since it was acquired. In December last year, the app gained the ability to send photos and videos to individual users via a new messaging feature called Instagram Direct, while shor-form video clips were added to the service in June 2013. The cost of advertising on Instagram in the US is reportedly between $350,000 and $1 million per month. Advertising Age reported in March that Instagram struck a deal with Omnicom in March, with all the brands set to feature in the UK linked to the advertising group in October last year as part of an effort to build itself into a “sustainable business”.

Quarles said that in the UK, Instagram is starting with “brands who already have a very strong presence on Instagram”, and is aiming to provide a natural experience.

The ads used in the US enable users to like, comment on or hide ads from their feeds, and the approach will be the same in the UK.

Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in April 2012, said in March that it had reached 200 million users, a 10-times increase since it was acquired.

In December last year, the app gained the ability to send photos and videos to individual users via a new messaging feature called Instagram Direct, while short-form video clips were added to the service in June 2013.

The cost of advertising on Instagram in the US is reportedly between $350,000 and $1 million per month.

Advertising Age reported in March that Instagram struck a deal with Omnicom in March, with all the brands set to feature in the UK linked to the advertising group.