Instagram Finally Brings Search To Web Interface

Instagram announced on Monday that people can now search for people, places, and hashtags on the web. Finally.

Instagram has always been a mobile-first service, and until now, the web experience has had little to offer beyond the user’s feed of content from accounts they follow, their own profiles, and the ability to interact with posts and grab their embed code.

That changes today.

Instagram launched a major overhaul of its search offerings on mobile last month. There’s a new Explore page with trending tags and places and a more powerful search experience making it easier for users to find people, places, and tags.

Discovery has never been Instagram’s strong suit, but these changes went a long way toward fixing that. Search on the web interface should only help more.

This is one of those features that comes along and makes you wonder what took so long. This seems like something that should have been built into the experience from the beginning, even if on a basic level. Either way, it’s here now, and Instagram will be all the more useful for it.

It’s probably no coincidence that this new search functionality launches as Instagram prepares to ramp up its advertising offerings. This fall, businesss of all sizes will be able to get in on that.

I’m not seeing the search functionality yet, so I assume it’s still in the process of rolling out.

Related Reading: Here’s Why It’s Getting Harder To Ignore Instagram For Marketing

Images via Instagram