What exactly does Facebook have up its sleeve?
An
ad for a new app called Bolt mysteriously appeared on Instagram on
Wednesday. Android users reported seeing a new banner-style app-install
ad on on the service, according to TechCrunch, which featured a "one tap
photo messaging" app called Bolt.
The ad included what appeared to be an install button similar to the app-install ads from your Facebook News Feed.
The
button was a dead link, however, and the ads were removed shortly after
they appeared, according to The Verge. "We don’t have anything to share
right now," an Instagram spokesperson told Mashable.
There
are a few possible explanations for Bolt. Instagram could indeed be
testing app-install ads, a popular and lucrative ad format for its
parent company, Facebook. Instagram only began advertising last fall,
and it seems early for Instagram to bring banner style ads to the
platform, especially given user backlash following the initial ads
Instagram started with.
It's
also possible that Instagram and Facebook have another new app in the
pipeline, and accidentally shared the news before it was ready. This has
happened before. Facebook uncharacteristically botched a product launch
last month when it accidentally pushed its Snapchat competitor,
Slingshot, into the app store too early. It was removed shortly after,
and Facebook offered no real explanation for the slip-up.
Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would release more standalone
apps in 2014, so another app wouldn't be a major surprise.
The
idea of another messaging app, though, would be a bit of a shock.
Between Instagram, Messenger, Slingshot and WhatsApp, the company
already owns four messaging apps, and recent changes to Messenger
already include a one tap photo sharing feature.
Facebook,
along with other social companies like Twitter, is fond of testing new
features will a small group of users. It's possible these banners,
whether for a Facebook-owned app or a fictitious one, were simply a test
that was pushed out to more users than intended.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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