Instagram heard us! In a blog post late Thursday, the popular mobile photo-sharing service says it has withdrawn the controversial changes to its service agreement:
Because of the feedback we have heard from you, we are reverting this advertising section to the original version that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010. You can see the updated terms here.
They have reverted to language in the advertising section of its terms of service that appeared when it was launched in October 2010.
Their blog post reports that it will now ask users’ permission to introduce possible ad products only after they are fully developed.
Instagram was reacting to the outcry from users who launched a barrage of negative feedback, account cancellations, and defections by its users to other photo sharing services. As Instagram reviewed their policy, subscriptions to competing services have spiked, according to a report in the New York Times. Flickr’s mobile app has jumped in popularity on the Apple iTunes app chart, and subscriptions to the photo sharing service Pheed have quadrupled in the past week, the Times reported.
We reported earlier on Instagram’s proposed changes. Changes were anticipated when Facebook acquired Instagram for a $1 billion earlier this year.
