Instagram API Changes: What It Means For Brands and Influencers

Instagram made some big changes last week.

While the average ‘grammer may not have noticed anything different on their app, those in influencer marketing were in for an unexpected surprise.  

On April 4 Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, “choked” off developers’ access to the platform by changing Instagram’s API (application-programming interface). This means third-party apps that help influencers and brands analyse content and followers are no longer effective in tracking metrics on the platform.

“Apps that help people figure out if their followers follow them back or interact with them, analyze their audiences or find relevant hashtags are now quickly running into their API limits, leading to broken functionality and pissed off users,” TechCrunch reports.

While planned changes to the photo-sharing platforms’ API were scheduled to occur, developers weren’t expecting them to be rolled out until July 2018 (with a second round occuring in December 2018).

“It’s an inconvenience for our clients who expect to see uninterrupted competitive data for Instagram, but we hope and expect to have things up and running again once Instagram starts reopening access,” Unmetric co-founder Joseph Varghese said.

What does this mean for brands and influencers, who currently have limited abilities in tracking metrics on Instagram?

Sit tight.

Developers are working hard to come up with effective workaround solutions.

Some suspect the sudden change of Instagram’s API is due to the recent Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal. The social network has been scrambling to beef up its privacy policies and protect users’ data since the data breach occur last month.

Has Instagram’s API change affected you or your clients? Let us know in the comments below.