Photo-sharing site opens doors to more advertisers

Be ready to see more ads showing up in your Instagram feed.

On Tuesday, the photo-sharing app switched to an API that lets advertisers use third-party platforms like Brand Networks and Salesforce to schedule their own campaigns for the first time.

The change will basically throw open the gates to a much wider set of advertisers. Before yesterdays move, Instagram only sold ads to a select group of big brands it worked with directly — a process so expensive that smaller companies couldn't afford.

Advertisers, eager to tap into Facebook targeting tools and a 300 million-strong Instagram audience are very excited about the news.

"It has been, among our customers, one of the most anticipated launches we've ever seen," Brand Networks CEO Jamie Tedford says.