marketers who reported a noticeable uptick in ad load on Instagram, with ads accounting for as much as 22% out of 45 posts and 23% of Stories. Now Instagram is confirming it is experimenting with increasing ad volume in Stories.

“We’re always testing new ad experiences on Instagram and want to learn how people and advertisers respond to this small test,” said a spokesperson from Facebook, Instagram’s parent company.

The test involves running ads from two different advertisers back-to-back within a Story, according to a report from AdWeek. The experiment is only being performed on a small group of users, and all advertisers are eligible to be part of the test.

Why we should care

While this is still only a small test, marketers who haven’t started running Story ads should take note. If Instagram makes way for more ads in Stories, advertisers who are already familiar with the ad format and have experience running success campaigns will be in prime position to to take full advantage of the increased ad inventory.

There is also the potential for ad fatigue by users if back-to-back Story ads become a more regular experience on the platform — making it even more important for brands to focus on the creative aspect of their campaigns to differentiate themselves from competitors.

Aimclear’s VP of Marketing Strategy Susan Wenograd talked about the need for marketers to pay more attention to ad creative earlier this year when we talked to her about how the social ad landscape was changing. “It feels like we’re edging into a different era,” said Wenograd, “I believe there are totally separate effects we are feeling from these platforms maturing, competition becoming much steeper, and the demand consumers have for creative that they can connect with.”

More on the news

• Instagram told AdWeek the goal of the test is to determine the “right frequency” of Story ads in terms of user experience.
• When we asked Instagram about reports of increased ad load in July, a spokesperson from the company said Instagram is always improving on the ad experience and that, “Ad load fluctuates based on how people use Instagram. We closely monitor people’s sentiment both for ads and overall commerciality.”
• Earlier this month, Kenshoo reported Instagram Story ads accounted for nearly 20% of ad spend on the platform.

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Apple Confirms $1M Reward for Anyone Who Can Hack an iPhone

August 10, 2019 • Apple, Confirms

Apple has massively increased the amount it’s offering hackers for finding vulnerabilities in iPhones and Macs, up to $1 million. It’s by far the highest bug bounty on offer from any major tech company.

That’s up from $200,000, and in the fall the program will be open to all researchers. Previously only those on the company’s invite-only bug bounty program were eligible to receive rewards.

As Forbes reported on Monday, Apple is also launching a Mac bug bounty, which was confirmed Thursday, but it’s also extending it to watchOS and its Apple TV operating system. The announcements came in Las Vegas at the Black Hat conference, where Apple’s head of security engineering Ivan Krstić gave a talk on iOS and macOS security.

Forbes also revealed on Monday that Apple was to give bug bounty participants “developer devices”—iPhones that let hackers dive further into iOS. They can, for instance, pause the processor to look at what’s happening with data in memory. Krstić confirmed the iOS Security Research Device program would be by application only. It will arrive next year.

$1 million for an iPhone hack

The full $1 million will go to researchers who can find a hack of the kernel—the core of iOS—with zero clicks required by the iPhone owner. Another $500,000 will be given to those who can find a “network attack requiring no user interaction.” There’s also a 50% bonus for hackers who can find weaknesses in software before it’s released.

Apple is increasing those rewards in the face of an increasingly profitable private market where hackers sell the same information to governments for vast sums.

As Maor Shwartz told Forbes, the cost of a single exploit (a program that uses vulnerabilities typically to take control of a computer or phone) can fetch as much as $1.5 millon. An exploit targeting WhatsApp where no clicks are required from the user, for instance, can be sold to a government agency for that much, though such tools are rare. Only one or two a year will be sold, from a pool of around 400 researchers who focus on such high-end hacking. “It’s really hard to research them and produce a working exploit,” he said.

Previously, a company called Zerodium was vocal about how much it will pay researchers before handing them to its unknown government customers. In January, the secretive company announced it was offering $2 million for a remote hack of an iPhone.

Krstić said the bug bounty had been a success to date, with 50 serious bugs reported since the 2016 launch.

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Apple has massively increased the amount it’s offering hackers for finding vulnerabilities in iPhones and Macs, up to $1 million. It’s by far the highest bug bounty on offer from any major tech company.

That’s up from $200,000, and in the fall the program will be open to all researchers. Previously only those on the company’s invite-only bug bounty program were eligible to receive rewards.

As Forbes reported on Monday, Apple is also launching a Mac bug bounty, which was confirmed Thursday, but it’s also extending it to watchOS and its Apple TV operating system. The announcements came in Las Vegas at the Black Hat conference, where Apple’s head of security engineering Ivan Krstić gave a talk on iOS and macOS security.

Forbes also revealed on Monday that Apple was to give bug bounty participants “developer devices”—iPhones that let hackers dive further into iOS. They can, for instance, pause the processor to look at what’s happening with data in memory. Krstić confirmed the iOS Security Research Device program would be by application only. It will arrive next year.

$1 million for an iPhone hack

The full $1 million will go to researchers who can find a hack of the kernel—the core of iOS—with zero clicks required by the iPhone owner. Another $500,000 will be given to those who can find a “network attack requiring no user interaction.” There’s also a 50% bonus for hackers who can find weaknesses in software before it’s released.

Apple is increasing those rewards in the face of an increasingly profitable private market where hackers sell the same information to governments for vast sums.

As Maor Shwartz told Forbes, the cost of a single exploit (a program that uses vulnerabilities typically to take control of a computer or phone) can fetch as much as $1.5 millon. An exploit targeting WhatsApp where no clicks are required from the user, for instance, can be sold to a government agency for that much, though such tools are rare. Only one or two a year will be sold, from a pool of around 400 researchers who focus on such high-end hacking. “It’s really hard to research them and produce a working exploit,” he said.

Previously, a company called Zerodium was vocal about how much it will pay researchers before handing them to its unknown government customers. In January, the secretive company announced it was offering $2 million for a remote hack of an iPhone.

Krstić said the bug bounty had been a success to date, with 50 serious bugs reported since the 2016 launch.