Instagram’s advertising base has more than doubled over the last six months, leading to a massive increase in the company’s overall revenue. However, while the recent boom in social media campaigns seems like a positive advancement on behalf of the photo-sharing empire, millennials and GenZs may feel differently.  

Instagram’s impressive advertising milestone now explains why users have been experiencing a plethora of brand campaigns flooding their news feeds. Since the September 2015 launch of the Instagram Ads API campaign, the social media app has given parent company Facebook a run for their money.

But is the new influx of promotional advertisements a blessing or a curse?

Although it may be a huge purchasing driver for some buyers, the company’s new ad agency platform could have an adverse effect on the popularity of the app among young adults. Ads are unarguably a vital part of the marketing sphere, in both young and old age demographics, but the substantial increase in Instagram’s brand partnerships may be causing millennials and GenZs to stray away from the social media juggernaut.

According to a study conducted by Lithium Technologies, which surveyed over 2,500 participants, “74% of Millennials and GenZs really dislike being advertised to in social media feeds” and “56% claim to have reduced the amount of time they spend on social media directly because of the presence of ads in their feeds.” Read more

While some argue that a few lost users won’t have a lasting affect on the company’s success, Iconosquare reported that 3/4 of Instagram’s users fall into the 15-35 year-old age bracket. Therefore, the recent ad aversion that’s sweeping through the current digital atmosphere could result in a loss of popularity among major social media hubs like Snapchat and Facebook.

Due to the massive success of Instagram’s revenue contributors, the company doesn’t show any sign of slowing down any time soon, but that’s not to say that Instagram’s millennial and GenZ influencers should be underestimated by any means.