A newly-discovered patent filing suggests that Facebook-owned photo sharing platform Instagram may be considering charging a fee to add links to photo captions. The patent application shows a pop-up appearing when the user adds a URL to a caption, asking if the user wants to pay $2 to make the link live, reports The Verge.
"If the online system detects the text content of the caption includes a string of link text identifying an address, the online system prompts the posting user to pay a fee in exchange for generating a link," the patent application read.
However, if Instagram were to implement this feature, it would raise the question of whether people would want to pay $2 per link.
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Meanwhile, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a blog post last week that they have been reviewing the way the photo-sharing platform verifies accounts for the past two months and as a result of which, they have made changes to the verification process. Mosseri said that follower count was never a requirement to get a verification badge.
"While follower count was never a requirement to get verified through the in-app form (which anyone can apply for), we did have certain systems in place that prioritised accounts with high followings to help get through the tens of thousands of requests received every day. We've since removed this from the automated part of the process," he wrote
This, of course, has been one of the biggest complaints about Instagram, that if you want to include a link to a story, product, or anything else in your post you can't add URLs to captions of photos. Most people go the "link in bio" route, and verified Insta users can add links to Stories. The question here will be whether Instagram influencers, brands, and other users will be willing to pay a per-link fee. But it seems like a no-brainer to generate revenue for Instagram if this goes into effect.
However, as with any patent, it’s important to note that companies apply for patents all the time for products and services that never come to fruition, so there’s no telling if or when this feature might actually happen. Maybe don’t splurge on that new selfie stick just yet.