India’s MeitY Summons Meta Over Instagram Ads Promoting Child Exploitation

India’s IT Ministry (MeitY) has reportedly summoned Meta after a BBC investigation revealed that Instagram carried paid ads in India promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM), linking users to Telegram channels selling such content. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to demand a formal explanation from Meta.

The BBC World Service investigation, published on July 3, alleged that Instagram’s recommendation systems began surfacing sexually explicit content before serving paid advertisements containing terms such as “rape video” and “child video.”

MeitY will seek an explanation from Meta on the issue and the steps the company has taken to address it, said reports by several media outlets.

MeitY Summons Meta Over Instagram Ads Promoting CSAM

What Happened

• BBC Investigation – Found ~30 paid ads on Instagram using explicit terms like “rape video” and “child video”, redirecting users to Telegram channels selling CSAM for as little as ₹99.
• Ads Passed Review – Despite Meta’s ad moderation systems, these ads were approved and shown to Indian users.
• Government Action – MeitY will ask Meta how such ads cleared review, what safeguards exist, and what corrective steps were taken.

Government Response

• Summons Issued – Meta executives will be required to explain their ad‑screening mechanisms.
• Legal Framework – Under India’s IT rules, intermediaries must act against harmful content, especially child exploitation.
• Policy Push – The Centre is tightening accountability for platforms on issues like CSAM, deepfakes, obscene material, and cyber‑enabled abuse.

Meta’s Position

• Zero Tolerance Policy – Meta claims it does not allow CSAM in ads or posts.
• AI Detection – Uses advanced AI to proactively detect violating content, but admits criminals hide among its 3.5 billion users.
• Actions Taken – Disabled multiple ads and accounts, blocked violating URLs, and pledged to strengthen defenses.

Risks & Challenges

• Systemic Gaps – Ads are expected to undergo stricter pre‑publication review than posts, raising questions about Meta’s safeguards.
• Criminal Exploitation – Organized groups exploit loopholes in moderation systems to spread CSAM.
• Global Concern – Highlights the difficulty of policing harmful content at scale across billions of users.

Why It Matters for India

• Child Safety – Reinforces India’s stance on protecting children from online exploitation.
• Platform Accountability – Signals stronger enforcement of IT rules against global tech firms.
• Policy Direction – May accelerate India’s push for an independent AI regulation law to address online harms.

Hackers Hijack Instagram Accounts Through Meta’s AI Flaw

Meta’s AI-powered Instagram support bot was exploited by hackers, allowing them to hijack accounts—including Barack Obama’s White House account, Sephora, and U.S. Space Force officials—simply by asking the bot to change recovery details. Meta has patched the flaw, but the incident highlights serious risks in using AI for sensitive security functions.

Meta launched its AI-powered Instagram Support Bot in December 2025, with a global rollout expanding in March 2026. It was designed to provide 24/7 account help, including password resets, scam reporting, and privacy management, but was later exploited by hackers due to weak safeguards.

The Instagram Support Bot was meant to simplify account recovery, but its exploitation shows how AI-driven customer support can become an attack surface if not properly safeguarded.

What Happened

• Exploit Method: Hackers tricked Meta’s AI support chatbot into linking a target Instagram account to a new attacker-controlled email.
• Password Reset: Once linked, the bot facilitated a password reset, locking out the legitimate owner.
• Bypassing Safeguards: Attackers used VPNs to spoof locations and bypass fraud detection.
• No Alerts: Victims did not receive SMS, push notifications, or warning emails during the takeover.

High-Profile Accounts Compromised

Account	Impact
Obama-era White House Instagram (@obamawhitehouse)	Defaced with politically inflammatory content
Sephora (official account)	Hijacked and disrupted
U.S. Space Force Chief Master Sergeant John Bentivegna	Personal account compromised
Rare “OG” handles (@hey, @jowo)	Valued at over $1M in underground markets

Why It Matters

• AI Security Risks: The bot had backend privileges but lacked identity verification safeguards.
• Prompt Injection Vulnerability: Attackers exploited natural language prompts to override intended security checks.
• Broader Trend: Similar AI manipulation attacks have occurred elsewhere (e.g., dealership chatbots offering cars for $1).

Meta’s Response

• Patch Released: Meta confirmed the vulnerability was fixed on June 1, 2026.
• Account Recovery: Impacted accounts are being secured, though Meta has not disclosed the total number affected.
• Future Safeguards: Renewed scrutiny over reliance on AI for account recovery and password management.

What Users Should Do

• Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Still critical for other attack vectors.
• Check Recovery Settings: Verify your email and phone number linked to Instagram.
• Monitor for Alerts: Watch for suspicious login attempts or password reset notifications.
• Report Issues: Use Meta’s official support channels immediately if you suspect compromise.

Key Takeaway

This breach shows that AI-driven customer support systems can become attack surfaces if not properly safeguarded. Meta’s incident is a cautionary tale for all platforms deploying AI in sensitive security workflows.

TikTok Surpasses YouTube and Instagram in News Reach

TikTok has officially overtaken YouTube and Instagram as the leading social app for news among young people in 2025. According to fresh Pew Research data, 43% of U.S. adults aged 18–29 now regularly get their news from TikTok, compared to 41% from YouTube and Facebook, and 40% from Instagram.

Key Findings

• TikTok leads the pack: For the first time, TikTok is the top social media platform for news among young Americans.
• Close competition: YouTube and Facebook are tied at 41%, while Instagram follows at 40%.
• Other platforms lag: X (formerly Twitter) sits at 21%, and Reddit at 18%.
• Social media dominance overall: 67% of young adults say they often or sometimes rely on social media for news, compared to 60% who use traditional news websites.

Why TikTok is Winning

• Short-form video appeal: TikTok’s algorithm delivers bite-sized, engaging news clips that match young audiences’ consumption habits.
• Community-driven content: Users often encounter news through creators, commentary, and stitched videos rather than traditional outlets.
• Platform investment: TikTok has rolled out tools for publishers and community fact-checking, making it more credible as a news source.
• Cultural relevance: TikTok’s meme-driven, fast-moving style resonates with younger audiences who prefer conversational and visual formats over long articles.

Risks & Challenges

• Misinformation: TikTok’s viral nature means false or misleading content can spread quickly.
• Algorithmic bias: News exposure depends heavily on TikTok’s recommendation system, which may skew perspectives.
• Credibility gap: While TikTok is popular, traditional outlets still hold more trust among older demographics.
• Regulatory scrutiny: Governments are increasingly concerned about TikTok’s influence on public opinion and its role in shaping political discourse.

Comparison Table

Platform	% of Young Adults (18–29) Using for News	Strengths	Weaknesses
TikTok	43%	Engaging short-form video, cultural relevance, creator-driven	Misinformation risk, algorithm bias
YouTube	41%	Long-form depth, established creators	Less immediacy, slower trend adoption
Facebook	41%	Broad reach, community groups	Declining youth engagement, credibility issues
Instagram	40%	Visual storytelling, lifestyle + news blend	Less focus on hard news
X (Twitter)	21%	Real-time updates, breaking news	Toxic discourse, declining trust
Reddit	18%	Niche communities, in-depth discussion	Fragmented, not mainstream

TikTok’s rise marks a seismic shift in how younger generations consume news — away from traditional outlets and even away from older social platforms, toward algorithm-driven, creator-led ecosystems.

Yahoo Acquires Artifact, An AI News Platform Created by Instagram Co-Founders

Yahoo has announced that it has acquired Artifact, the AI-driven news platform created by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The acquisition will see Artifact's technology integrated across Yahoo's various services, including its news sites.

This move is part of Yahoo's strategy to enhance its news operations and deliver personalized content to its audience. Artifact, known for its AI-powered recommendation engine, will no longer operate as a standalone app but will contribute to Yahoo's content curation and personalization efforts.

Artifact's AI-powered personalization technology will be integrated across Yahoo's services, particularly the Yahoo News app. This integration aims to enhance the user experience by providing a more personalized feed of news stories, tailored to individual interests over time.

It is to be noted that launched in January 2023, Artifact was shutdown in January 31,  2024. Kevin Systrom announced the Artifact shutdown decision saying that the app would be shutting down after concluding that "the market opportunity isn’t big enough to warrant continued investment in this way."

Now, The Artifact technology will help Yahoo to surface content that users are most likely to want to see, improving content discovery and curation within its platforms. Additionally, Artifact brings various features aimed at improving the quality of the news experience, such as tools to prevent clickbait and easy-access to top news. The integration of Artifact's technology is part of Yahoo's commitment to connecting users with high-quality content and trusted news.

Speaking about Artifact founders — Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, after leaving Instagram, Kevin and Mike teamed up again to launch Rt.live, a COVID-19 spread tracker.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have been involved in several projects beyond Instagram and Artifact.

Before Instagram, Kevin developed a web prototype called Burbn, which was a location-based social network. Besides this, Kevin has also been active as an investor, backing various startups and tech companies.

Mike Krieger, on other hand, was involved in a school project aimed at sharing images to combat seasonal sadness, prior to CoFounding Instagram. He was also worked at NextStop, a startup which was a travel recommendation site.

Mike has also been involved in philanthropic efforts, including a partnership with charity evaluator GiveWell.

Both Systrom and Krieger have shown a consistent interest in social platforms and applications that leverage technology to improve user experiences and community engagement. Their latest venture, Artifact, was an AI-powered news app, which has now been acquired by Yahoo.

Instagram Launching Creator Marketplace in India and 7 More Countries

Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is expanding the creator marketplace to eight new markets including India. Over the next few weeks, the social media giant plans to invite creators and brands based in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, India and Brazil to join Instagram’s creator marketplace.

Besides the above seven markets, Meta said that Chinese export brands will also be invited to connect with onboarded creators but in countries outside of China.

Instagram is touted as one of the best places for brands and creators to collaborate. Introduced in 2022, Meta began testing the creator marketplace in the US, a tool for brands and creators to connect and collaborate around partnership opportunities. This was followed by introducing new features and onboarding thousands of creators and brands in the US to creator marketplace.

Brands join Instagram’s creator marketplace in Meta Business Suite. Creators join from their professional dashboard in the Instagram app. Creators can indicate brands and interests relevant to them. Creators can also create a portfolio to highlight what makes them unique.

Machine Learning for the Right Match Recommendation

A screen capture of machine learning-powered creator recommendations.

Meta said that it is testing new custom, machine learning-powered creator recommendations for each brand to help match the right creators and brands for campaigns. Brands can also search for creators, filtering for creator and audience attributes. They can also see a list of creators who have expressed interest and check out creator portfolios.

The new machine learning-based recommendations use Instagram data to help brands more easily discover creators who are the best fit for their campaigns. Eligible brands can access these recommendations over the coming months on Instagram’s creator marketplace in Meta Business Suite.

Instagram’s creator marketplace helps brands find the right creators and helps creators get discovered by brands.

A phone screen showing a designated Partnership messages folder

Creators receive brand messages in a dedicated Partnership Messages folder at the top of the Primary tab. Brands can reach out to creators directly or create and send a project to multiple creators outlining the branded content or partnership ad opportunity. Creators can review the details and requirements of the opportunity, as well as the rate, all within the Instagram app.

Once brands and creators come to an agreement, they are ready to create. Advertisers can boost organic Instagram content as partnership ads, including branded content with the paid partnership label, or they can create new partnership ads in Ads Manager.

A screenshot of a phone showing branded content with the paid partnership label

9 Tips for Posting Videos on Instagram Effectively

Learning about Instagram is worth your time if you're a forward-looking brand. With over 1 billion users monthly, 90% of them follow a business account on the social media platform. In light of these statistics, Instagram is a must-use social media platform for businesses looking to grow.

• Almost 200 million people visit one or more business profiles on Instagram daily.
• A whopping 79% of Instagram users check out a product after seeing it on the app. The brand's website is then visited by 50% of these users.
• Instagram Stories have sparked the interest of 58% of people in brands and products.

In addition, there are more reasons to be excited. Your Instagram videos will help you reach a new audience, convince and convert sales, and drive consumer engagement by combining Instagram and video content. To make an Instagram video that matches your business goals, however, you need to adapt this advice and not simply create video content for the sake of it.

Let us look at methods of how to make Instagram videos and tips to help you succeed.

1. Make high-quality videos

High-quality video content is popular on social media, particularly Instagram. Your Instagram video must be something your audience can enjoy and share to be effective. If you don't have the budget, you can borrow a camera from a friend or purchase a professional camera. You can get by just fine with your smartphone's camera settings. When shooting a high-quality Instagram video, you need to pay attention to these basics:

2. Illumination for video

Make sure your videos do not have the "burning" effect. Make sure the light falls on the object you are recording, not on the camera while taking a video. Shooting videos outdoors requires you to consider the time of day at which the video is being shot. A golden hour is the best time to take outdoor photographs: one hour before sunset or one hour after sunrise. There is no problem with other times in the morning, early evening, or early evening.

3. Follow Instagram's updates and changes

Staying relevant on Instagram requires brands to stay updated with trends and features. Learning how to make an Instagram video through any paid or free instagram video editor is an essential skill for a business. You can stay ahead of your competitors if you have the foresight to leverage changes and updates ahead of them. For example, if videos are getting more engagements than you can relay on these tools.

Besides the popular content options of Stories and IGTV, Reels and Instagram Shopping can engage audiences and drive store conversions. Moreover, augmented reality filters have been added to Instagram Stories to enhance existing features. Brands can develop custom AR filters for better visibility and audience engagement.

4. Keep your audience's needs in mind

It's possible to tell a lot about what your audience wants to see based on their behaviors and actions, even if they don't explicitly express it. Discover which content your audience is and learn how to make Instagram video likes to interact with using insights from your social media analytics.

5. Don't make your videos too long

On Instagram, people don't like to stay on one thing for too long, so keep your video short.
The following video lengths are available on Instagram for each feature:

• The maximum length of Instagram Stories is 15 seconds,
• There is a 30-second time limit for reels,
• One minute is the maximum length for videos on Instagram.

To complete your video, you should take the shots that your video needs most when you shoot it for this platform. You can upload longer videos to Instagram Live or IGTV if you want.

6. Captions should be added

The majority of Instagram videos are watched without sound. It's not uncommon to find ourselves in circumstances or places that aren't ideal. Ultimately, we scroll our feed and skip videos or watch muted videos.

Our feed loves videos with captions for this reason. Even without the sound, it gets people's attention faster. It might be interesting enough to make people want to watch the video again after turning on the sound.

7. Timing is everything

Despite the constant changes in Instagram's algorithm, engagement remains the top priority. Your attention and visibility can increase when you post at the right time.
Posting your content at the right time will make your content more likely to be seen and engaged by users. There is a peak time for posting on social media between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

8. Embrace established trends when in doubt

Taking advantage of a trend (while it is still trending!) will increase your brand's visibility on social media. You see many styles and visual trends on Instagram that can be traced back to more significant visual trends. The Shutterstock Creative Trends report is a great way to know if you haven't tapped into any 2022 styles.

Instead of having to wait weeks for creative approvals, you can create video content online in minutes. Your brand will be perceived as relatable and accessible if you react quickly to trends.

9. Make your content more discoverable by using hashtags

You can't live without hashtags on Instagram. In turn, people who have previously viewed similar content will be able to find your content in search results using those hashtags, as well as on Explore pages. Instagram hashtags are an excellent tool for increasing brand visibility and content discovery.

Your campaign will be more successful using niche and industry-related hashtags. When you target the most popular hashtags globally or regionally, you are more likely to get your content seen by potential customers than if you choose the ones most used locally or globally. By sharing branded hashtags, you will encourage user-generated content (UGC).

Wrap Up

Here are eight ways to improve your social presence and make your next Instagram video a hit. There is no need to spend much time or money making an excellent Instagram video. For your videos to look more professional and attractive, ensure they are edited well.

How To Get Followers on Instagram

Today we will talk about how to behave for small and medium-sized businesses in SMM. In this article we will talk about the promotion of goods and services in a universal way — advertising.

Of course, you know that you can promote your companies using different methods. If the entrepreneur does not want to strain too much, then he can buy Instagram followers. This is a great way to develop an account in the early stages. But advertising can be used more often.

The formula for effective subscriber growth consists of following several principles. These principles also answer the question of how to prepare a profile for advertising.

The audience needs to understand why they subscribe to you

By going to the profile from advertising, the user spends just a couple of seconds to make an impression about the account.

It doesn't sound very good, but for a potential audience, you should always give explanations in advertisements as for children. The point is that the motive to subscribe should be obvious so that any person can understand it in a couple of seconds with a quick glance.

Your account must be: Beautiful + Informative + Unique. It is important to meet all three criteria, otherwise you risk not conveying your idea. In this case, you will not get an increase in the audience and you will only have to manually buy real Instagram followers on an ongoing basis.

Interesting content

Experts say that before advertising starts, you need to post 9-12 posts so that people can see that some content is already there. But the point here is not in quantity, but in quality. If you post 9 photos of the same type without content, it will not help you much.

Posts published before the start of advertising should first of all inform that here the user will read interesting content. It is for these purposes that it is appropriate to use the inscriptions on the photo, since a person should understand in 2 seconds what is interesting here.

Famous brand

If you are a famous person, then it is enough for you to make an advertisement with your name, and people will subscribe. The more famous your brand is, the less you can worry about creative ads and useful content.

Of course, you are unlikely to be a popular person. We do not skip the point about brand awareness, because it is important to understand not only who you are, but also who you are not. If you are weak in one aspect, then you need to act stronger and bolder in the other two.

Content alignment with brand spirit

In theory, you can sell anything to anyone. But it will be easier for you if you start from what you are selling.

If you sell perfume and it contains non-standard shades, and the founders of the brand themselves are from a fashion company, then this should be reflected in the content. It's a lot easier to narrow your audience down to fashionable youth and tailor content to them than it is to persuade older women to try a rather strange perfume.

Your task is to allow a potential client to make a decision on a subscription in a couple of seconds. The content should be such that subscribers to the account are mainly those who are not afraid of experiments.

Subscriber growth may not be huge, but the main value lies in the fact that it is literate, objective and can be scaled. It is better to attract 1500 people and know how to repeat it than to attract 5000 randomly and inexplicably.

Ability to convert

This section does not affect the success of attracting subscribers, but it affects how you benefit from them. That is, it is not mandatory, but desirable.

Advertising to attract subscribers has an advantage over advertising that leads immediately to a purchase on the site: by subscribing to your account, the user makes a conscious act of interest, and his fuse can immediately be enough to make a purchase.

The user's interest path looks like this:

• The user saw the ad. At this stage, you have selected an audience that matches your brand, and showed a straightforward and interesting ad.
• Pressed the button. The better your ad, the more users will click on the button and go to your account.
• Rated the account. Here the user looks at the description of your profile in the header, skimming through the content and deciding whether he is interested or not. By itself, interest is difficult to assess and predict, but interest can be understood as the desire to open any of the posts. This is what photo captions are for. If the user has a desire to open a post, then the subscription seems to him a logical action.
• Decided to subscribe. If everything is OK with the previous three principles, your audience subscribes to your account.

Conclusion

To gain a lot of followers for your business account on Instagram, you need to fill your profile with interesting content, constantly check the style of the content to match the spirit of the brand and the tastes of the target audience, and create original advertisements.

New Ways to Increase Your Instagram Followers In 2022

Followers on Instagram are more than just numbers; they're members of your online community. Growing your Instagram following, on the other hand, may help you drive more visitors to your website, improve sales, or even convert you into a trendsetting influencer.

We'll show you how to obtain more Instagram followers without using spam accounts or bots in this article.

In 2022, how can you get more Instagram followers?

Here are 14 tried-and-true methods to use on your Instagram account this year if you want to grow your following:

1st, go into the Instagram Reels.

If you haven't yet started posting Instagram Reels, you may be missing out on a tremendous chance to increase your following. Instagram's short-form, looping video tool, Reels, is still one of the best methods to attract new users to the platform.

That unlike the majority of Instagram, viewers in the Reels feed are fed high-interest content from both fans and non-followers. This implies that the Reels you make can easily reach out to people who aren't on your follower list, increasing your visibility and growing your following.

For the best results, follow these steps:

In your Reels captions, use keywords and hashtags that appropriately identify your video footage.

Explore other ways to increase your follower count.

Nowdays there are countless ways to increase your number of followers automatically. One of them is to buy instagram followers.This will give your Instagram account a little boost. Most of the accounts will use this boost to grow and the growing will never stops. The same goes if you want to buy instagram followers, the likes will keep coming after the purchase. Again, it will only give your account a boost.

Make use of popular sounds.

Keep your Reels brief to encourage repeat viewings. Create original content and integrate on-screen text for those without access to a cd player. Attempt to produce a high-definition video (rather than uploading content with a TikTok watermark)

Even if your brand or company doesn't appear to be a natural fit for Reels, there are still ways to flourish. Explore with trending trends, let fans inside the scenes, or even show your work both during.

Make Your Post Captions Search-Friendly

Optimizing marketing posts for search is a popular Instagram strategy for increasing your following. According to a recent Instagram update, English-speaking users in six countries may now search Instagram using keywords.

According to The Verge, when presenting relevant results, the Instagram team considers a variety of factors, including "type of material, captions, when it was uploaded," and more. "Identify the best quality stuff that is applicable you," according to deep learning. Only grid postings will be displayed for said time being.

You could draft all of your topic captions in one power hour and then schedule them to go live at your favorite publishing time.

Curate his profile to look gorgeous.

For turning profile visits into followers, you'll need a well-planned Instagram feed that clearly displays your specialization.

When someone visits your profile, you want them to grasp what it's all about right away. Use a visual planner tool to organize your Instagram grid before you publish to establish a consistent style that promotes your business.

Consider how your postings fit together as a whole and how they make a first impression on someone who visits your profile for the first time.

Hold an Instagram contest.

Hosting any Instagram gift might become one of the most effective strategies to grow your following rapidly. Well with the right strategy in place, you may potentially attract thousands of extra users while also boosting your brand's sense of connection.

Set clear entry requirements that support your growth goals, such as identifying a pal in comments, posting on Instagram Stories, and following your account. Instagram freebies are especially beneficial when they're created in partnership with a designer or business that caters to your target market.

This brings us to the next step in our Snapchat follower growth strategy...

Define your value proposition.

Would you enter a store if you had no idea what it was selling? Isn't that the case? The same concept holds true for your Instagram account. For visitors to your profile to become followers, you need a clear value offer (whether it's styling suggestions, inspiring quotations, or lifestyle material).

This does not, however, imply that all of your material must be identical. Encourage user-generated content (#11). (UGC) Using a Personalized Hashtag Encourage your followers to post user-generated content (UGC) to increase brand exposure and boost your Instagram following.

It's also quite simple to share user-generated content. Followers may tag your brand or use your branded hashtag. What's the end result? Anyone who comes across a user-generated image may easily find the Birdy Grey Instagram account.

Ultimately, I'll keep the post's initial strength but add the original founder's account.

Make Your Content Accessible

Over 430 million individuals worldwide are deaf or hard of hearing, and at least 2.2 billion have eyesight problems.

Here are four easy steps you can do right now to make your Instagram account more accessible and inclusive:

1. Subtitles or text overlays can be added to video material (including Instagram Videos, Stories, and Reels)
2. Create informative alt text for your Instagram pictures by hand.
3. During storytelling and films, mention visual elements.
4. In Instagram hashtags, capitalize each word. This makes it easier for screen-readers to read them out correctly.

TIP: Instagram has now provided auto-generated captions for stories in 16 languages, making it easier than ever to make your content more accessible.

Include keywords in the name field of your bio.

Did you realize that the words you use in your Instagram bio's Name Field may be searched? If your company specializes in bespoke artwork, for example, you might want to use keywords like "Art" or "Artwork" in your Name Field.

Growing your Instagram account may appear to be a difficult task, but with the appropriate approaches and ideas, you can certainly increase your Instagram followers. Posting creative material, targeting the correct people, and taking advantage of Instagram's new features and trends are all part of the strategy.

Instagram focused commerce startup WINDO raises $ 500,000 in seed round

Silus Reddy Chintapalli and Rakesh Vaddadi

Round led by Unicorn India Ventures

Round saw participation from prominent angels such as Meena Ganesh, CEO of Portea, Aravind Sanka, CEO of Rapido, Srinivas Anumolu of GrowthStory and Vivek Bhargava, well known digital media expert and co-founder, ProfitWheel

Funds to be primarily used for product development and to enhance the customer experience with an aim to achieve product market fit and explore other markets outside India

WINDO an app for Instagram-focused businesses lets anyone easily manage their online business on the go. WINDO helps solopreneurs launch a free online shop in under 2-minutes powered by their Instagram business account

Mumbai June 24th 2021: Bengaluru based Instagram/Social commerce powering tech company WINDO has raised $500,000 in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures. The round also saw participation from prominent angels like Meena Ganesh, CEO of Portea, Aravind Sanka, CEO of Rapido, Srinivas Anumolu of GrowthStory and Vivek Bhargava, a well known digital media expert and co-founder of ProfitWheel. The company plans to use the funds for product development and to enhance the customer experience while growing and aim for achieving product market fit and to also launch in outside India regions.

WINDO, founded in 2020, by second time entrepreneurs Silus Reddy Chintapalli and Rakesh Vaddadi, is an Instagram commerce focused tech startup which is helping small businesses and solopreneurs capitalise on consumers flocking to Instagram. BITS Pilani alumni Silus and Rakesh are solving the broken Instagram commerce experience that is happening right now and exploding. There are several small businesses & sellers already using Instagram to sell their products (almost exclusively). Instagram has become the go to app for millennials and GenZ shoppers to discover the latest trends be it fashion, beauty, lifestyle, food, travel etc. While the discovery part is largely satisfactory, the purchase piece is completely broken. Currently, final purchases are being closed on DMs which is inefficient and unscalable.

Silus Reddy, Co-founder & CEO, WINDO, says, “We want to act as a technology team for solopreneurs and small businesses and help them build their online store in under 2-minutes by helping them convert their Instagram page into an online store, all while keeping it affordable & flexible. We believe that anyone, anywhere should be able to start selling online easily and we are working towards the same.”

WINDO aims to become a one stop shop where sellers can control everything from the WINDO app by enabling features such as centralised inventory, order management, pricing etc. One can choose the products from their feed, add prices & stock & share the shop with their customers easily. WINDO Shop makes it easy for anyone to manage their online business by increasing orders, helping them set up a professional-looking e-commerce store and market their products with ease to their Instagram customers. The Company is targeting an ARR of 1 million dollars in the next 12 months.

Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, says, “Instagram has emerged as the most powerful social tool for internet consumers. Shoppers spend hours on Instagram to discover trends and products matching their preferences. We expect social commerce with a focus on Instagram to become a highly attractive segment in the next 2 years. At Unicorn India Ventures, we have always backed high potential startups. Our portfolio performance is an indicator of the unusual bets that we have taken. We believe WINDO is also a unique proposition as they are enabling and unlocking the potential of e-commerce by enabling small businesses to discover newer markets and increase their revenues as currently, most of the small business list on large market places where revenues have been trickling in if not falling. WINDO is a solid alternative for online first and D2C small and medium brands."

Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global social commerce market size is expected to reach $3369 billion by 2028. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.4% from 2021 to 2028. In India, however, the market is expected to grow at a much faster pace than the global CAGR to reach $25 billion by 2025. A large part of this explosive growth is expected to come from Instagram/Facebook. WINDO is poised strongly to leverage this trend as it helps sellers improve their conversion rate by enabling them to use Instagram more effectively and result in driving sales.

About WINDO:

Sell via WINDO! Our app for Instagram-focused businesses lets anyone easily manage the business on the go. WINDO helps you launch your own Shopify-like E-commerce website & free online shop in 2-minutes from your Instagram account. You can choose the products from your feed, add price & stock & share the shop with your customers easily. WINDO Shop makes it easy for you to manage your online business by increasing orders, helping you to set up a professional-looking online shop, & market your products with ease to your Instagram customers.

About Unicorn India Ventures:

Unicorn India Ventures is a Mumbai-based early stage fund house started in 2015 by Anil Joshi and Bhaskar Majumdar. The Fund has also launched a UK India cross border fund for funding UK startups looking to enter India and have invested in 7 UK startups. From its first Fund, UIV has invested in 18 companies like Inc42, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, NeuroEquilibrium, SmartCoin, Open Bank, Open app to name a few. Unicorn India has also announced Fund II, which is a Rs 400 crore fund launched in 2019 which has invested in 7 companies so far.

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Do you want to start selling your product on Instagram but you don't know where to start? These recommendations from Lectera experts will help you build a competitive marketing strategy and start selling in a few days!

What you must do before launching your account

Formulate the goals of launching a business project on Instagram according to the SMART principle. According to it, each of your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The goal, for example, may sound like: “increasing the potential buyers’ loyalty”, “improving brand awareness”, or simply “boosting sales"

Analyse competition. 

Which of your competitors already uses Instagram as a sales platform? Has it helped these companies increase their profits? What sales tactics do they use? What forms of content do they post? How do they interact with their followers? Create a table with detailed answers to these questions.

Find out which segment of your target audience uses Instagram on a daily basis. Write down the possible reasons why your audience uses this social network and think about what content you can offer based on its needs. For example, the need to take a break from the flow of negative news is “dealt with” by soft stories filled with useful information that is not tied to the agenda. And the need for knowledge is easily met with the help of large posts, live broadcasts, and the Reels feature.  

Analysing and drawing a portrait of a potential buyer who finds you on Instagram will be much easier if you make expert knowledge of marketing your main ally. Learn digital marketing online on the Lectera platform. There you will find a special course on Instagram marketing and methods of work with this platform. In just two hours, ”Instagram from scratch: from the registration to first sales” shares the main principles of sales in social media. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to create an account that will sell your product for years! The best part of it? It takes just one evening to learn it all.

Understand how Instagram works. 

What does a business account look like and what options are included in it? How does the algorithmic feed work, what content might be of interest to your future followers? What forms of content should you focus on — texts, educational posts, entertaining quizzes in stories, or maybe video?

Delve into the basics of UX. 

User Experience is just as important as your audience's buying habits. That is why the experts from the educational platform Lectera recommend to anticipatorily create several hypotheses related to the behaviour of users viewing your profile for the first time and test these hypotheses while creating the account.

Calculate your resources. 

High-quality, interesting and non-trivial content will have to be generated every day. Or at least a few times a week. To do this, you will have to either independently study the cases, learn how to run a page, create engaging stories and write posts, or outsource these tasks. In the second case, you will need to carefully select freelancers who are supposed to create content for your Instagram profile. Make sure they have all the competencies required to successfully launch the page. To work on a profile, you will need the services of an SMM specialist, a manager who is to reply to comments and respond to direct messages, a copywriter who will write texts, and a story maker specialising on engaging and selling stories. And don’t forget about a targeting specialist familiar with your niche!

What you should do after launching your account

Deal with coverage. 

Your task is to reach as many users as possible, inform them about attractive offers, “warn them up”, and turn them into customers. At this stage, it is advisable to acquire targeted ads or buy ads from bloggers whose audience matches your portrait of a potential buyer. Without targeted traffic, that is, an audience that is interested in your offer, your account will not be able to sell goods.

Work with the community. 

Build a community around your brand! Talk to your audience, resolve conflict situations, reply to comments, and respond to direct messages. This will increase your brand loyalty and user confidence. Try to give as detailed answers as possible, exceeding customer’s expectations. Explain how your product can help them, ask for the audience’s opinion, and never delete negative comments related to your product! See them as an opportunity to improve the quality of your product or service.

In the course Instagram from scratch: from the registration to first sales, Lectera experts tell about the ways of working with the community around the brand in more detail. You will know how to create a content plan and increase the audience. Learn digital marketing online with the new generation educational programmes and start developing your Instagram business today!

Integrate content marketing. 

Each of your posts and stories should either warm up the audience or sell your product. Warming up your followers is about raising interest in a product, explaining ways in which this product can solve customers’ problems, and demonstrating the benefits of the product. A warmed-up customer is ready to consider buying your product in case your content can deal with their objections.

At the same time, the content plan should be focused on both cold (the audience that doesn’t know you yet) and warm audiences. Keep in mind the viewers interested only in getting information, not buying. There are lots of them on Instagram, as this social network is often used for leisure and self-development.

Treat your Instagram page promotion like a full-fledged marketing campaign. A serious approach will ensure a quick start and will increase the sales of your product. And the special knowledge gained in Lectera online courses will help you learn digital marketing and surpass any competitor!

Zendesk Offers Instagram Messaging for Businesses

Businesses Can Now Handle Instagram Messaging Requests at Scale with Zendesk

Zendesk, Inc. today announced the addition of Instagram messaging to its customer support offering. This means businesses can now provide customer service on Instagram from directly within Zendesk. As a leader in messaging for customer service, this aligns with the company's continued investment in new social messaging channels and a new, modern workspace for businesses to connect, engage and transact with customers.

The Messenger API for Instagram offers support for businesses to efficiently manage customer service inquiries that come over Instagram messaging. With this API, companies can have rich, seamless conversations with customers who respond to stories, start DMs, and more. For example:

• A retail company that receives a direct message from a customer about the status of their order can reply to the customer quickly with accurate information about the shipment directly from Zendesk.
• A customer who is scrolling through Instagram and watches a brand's Story promoting a holiday sale can immediately message them for more information. The customer could then receive a personalized response from an agent, whether it be a promo code, website link or shipping information that will remain in the conversation history for when a purchase is made. This eliminates the need to switch to another support channel such as phone or email.

Zendesk makes it even easier for businesses to get up and running on Instagram quickly by integrating this API directly into the Zendesk platform. At launch*, customers will be able to access these capabilities from right inside the agent workspace, and also be able to turn on Instagram for other software built with Zendesk.

From February to August of this year, customer service inquiries through channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter DMs, and SMS rose nearly 50 percent. Also, according to Zendesk's yearly Benchmark report, messaging apps have the highest customer satisfaction rating of any channel, with a CSAT of 98%. With over one billion active monthly users, Instagram is an important channel for businesses to add to the mix.

"At Zendesk, we work to make it easy for brands to communicate with customers across any channel, and social media is quickly becoming the preference. All social messaging conversations can easily flow into one place inside Zendesk," said Mike Gozzo, VP of Product, Zendesk. "With its tremendous popularity, Instagram is a key addition so businesses can serve customers who reach out on Instagram in a more timely, consistent and personal manner."

"We are thrilled Zendesk is launching support for Instagram messaging. Businesses and people are messaging with each other more than ever, and Instagram is a critical platform to connect with customers and build relationships," said Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, VP of Platform Partnerships at Messenger. "Messenger API support for Instagram means businesses and developers can now manage their customer communications on Instagram at scale."

*This capability is currently available to a limited number of customers in early access, more details on broader availability to come in 2021.

To learn more about Zendesk and Sunshine Conversations visit zendesk.com/conversations.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds support, sales, and customer engagement software designed to foster better customer relationships. From large enterprises to startups, we believe that powerful, innovative customer experiences should be within reach for every company, no matter the size, industry or ambition. Zendesk serves more than 160,000 customers across a multitude of industries in over 30 languages. Zendesk is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates offices worldwide. Learn more at www.zendesk.com.



Media Contact:

Santosh Chandrashekar

santosh@starsquaredpr.com

+91 8095334774



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Thank you.
Regards,
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Santosh Chandrashekar
Senior Account Manager
Star Squared PR
Mobile : +91 8095334774


Website: www.starsquaredpr.com

Blog: http://www.starsquaredpr.com/blog






"Star Squared PR believes that our success depends on our clients' success".

Instagram - the ‘Real-Life’ Source of Income for Bollywood Celebs

As the popularity of televisions and print media reduced among the youth population, brands looked for other ways to reach out to them and market their products. Now, we see advertising happening at a successful rate in all social media problems.

Bollywood, being India’s most popular film industry has birthed many influential personalities and they play an important role in the success of marketing on social media platforms. Brands are ready to pay them well for endorsing their images and being their voices on social media platforms.

Instagram, being one of the most used platforms among the youngsters help the brands to reach them easily. Hence, the Bollywood stars who have a good social media presence are roped in by major brands, adding to the celebs’ income.

This practice began in the West but slowly spread to the Indian markets too. While the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Kylie Jenner, and Cristiano Ronaldo rules the world in terms of generating income via Instagram, the Bollywood stars do a fairly good job too, even though the stats do not reflect handsome figures when compared to the Instagram Rich List, published by Hopper HQ.
The top leaders of Bollywood’s Instagram Rich List




Priyanka Chopra, who has attained popularity at a global level, thanks to her Hollywood ventures and her marriage to Nick Jonas rules Bollywood’s Instagram top earners according to Betway. Her estimated earnings on the social media platform touch Rs 13,569,102. She also holds the 28th position in the HQ list. This is a huge achievement as the only other Indian on that list if cricketer Virat Kohli who secured the 26th position.

Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt follow Priyanka Chopra respectively, both in terms of followers and their estimated Instagram earnings. Padukone earns around Rs. 12,447,711 while Bhatt generates approximately Rs 12,268,917 via Instagram.

Shraddha Kapoor with a total Instagram income of Rs 11,891,513 and Jacqueline Fernandez touching Rs 10,609,999 completes the top 5 of Bollywood’s rich list on Instagram, making the zone ladies-only.

In fact, the top 10 list based on Instagram earnings of Bollywood celebs features only one male member; Akshay Kumar who sits on the sixth position. He has a follower count of 40,500,000 and generated about Rs 10,242,122, much more than his male contemporaries on both the terms.

The other Bollywood ladies on the top 10 list include Neha Kakkar, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, and Sunny Leone. This shows that the celebs’ Instagram earnings do not depend on their reel-life works.

No male domination on Instagram

Although male Bollywood stars also generate quality income via Instagram, their female contemporaries are ahead of them in terms of followers and earnings.

After Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan earns the most through the social media platform when Bollywood male stars are considered. He generated around Rs 8,535,342 according to the estimations.

Salman Khan is closely followed by three young actors as Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, and Shid Kapoor takes the third, fourth, and fifth position respectively. Although Shah Rukh Khan has a whopping net worth of 4200 crores, which is higher than all of the others’, he secured only the sixth position in this list of Bollywood male stars’ Instagram Rich List as his Instagram earnings touch only Rs 5,523,882.

John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Farhan Akthar, and Arjun Rampal completes the top 10 of this list, with the good reach they have created for themselves on Instagram. The Betley infographic given below clearly shows the estimated Instagram earnings of these top celebs and also compares it with other stats like the number of followers and net worth.

Armsprime Media Launches the Official App of Viral Bhayani, the Most Followed Paparazzi Photographer

Armsprime Media Pvt. Ltd. a tech-based media company that builds and produces apps for celebrities and social media influencers proudly announces the launch of “The Viral Bhayani App”. One of the world’s most followed paparazzi photographers launches an app that promises to be your one stop destination for Bollywood entertainment.

Saurabh Kushwah, Founder & CEO quotes: “It gives us great pleasure to announce the launch of The Viral Bhayani App. As a company, we look to diversify our portfolio of social influencer offerings. Our key focus is the unique technology we have created and the level of customization we can do in break-speed time. We give the power to content creators to increase their fan engagement, monetize their content and own the channel they operate. We have a lot of exciting features in-store and with our AI-backed tech, content creators now have the opportunity of defining the value of their content and monetizing it. It helps creators decide price points of their own content and enables us to produce hyper-personalized and exclusive content for them."

About The Viral Bhayani App

Viral Bhayani is one of the most followed paparazzi photographers in the world, with over 1 million followers on Instagram. His app boasts of a lot of exciting features and content such as unseen footage, exclusive interviews, live videos and all the latest Bollywood news, updates and gossip. The Bollywood buffs are in for a treat with an intriguing Fan Leaderboard that promises exciting prizes for the Fan of the Month. Welcome to your one stop destination for Bollywood entertainment!

About Armsprime Technology

In the ever-changing world of social media and influencers, Armsprime puts the powers in your hand to create and manage your own content. We offer a 360-turnkey solution from designing your app, customised features, content, production to marketing and getting the maximum out of your content.

We drive engagement and make sure you are compensated and not the networks. Where communication is direct, and the control is in your hands.

Download The Viral Bhayani App: http://onelink.to/eacq5x

YouTubers, Instagrammers in India help educate 100K Women on Benefits of Menstrual Cups

~Led by feminine hygiene brand everteen, #FixYourPeriods campaign fetches a million video views over a one-month period, creates awareness on menstrual cups as a modern and sustainable sanitary method ~

~ Nearly 20% of the women did not know that menstrual cups let them pursue outdoor activities, 10% wanted a reassurance that using menstrual cups will not put them at risk of infection ~

YouTubers and Instagrammers from different parts of India came forward to lend their support for #FixYourPeriods, a first-of-its-kind digital campaign that aimed to create large-scale social awareness on modern methods of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) among Indian girls and women. The campaign that lasted for over a month was conceived and executed by everteen, a feminine hygiene products brand owned by Wet and Dry Personal Care, a PAN Health initiative that ships products globally.

The campaign was supported by the Women Health Organization (WoHO), Indian Medical Academy for Preventive Health (IMAPH) and HEAL Foundation. A massive online success, the campaign generated approximately 1 million views and engaged nearly 100,000 women who posted their comments and queries regarding use of menstrual cups.

Social media influencers from Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal took part in this campaign. Besides English, these social media champions also created user-friendly content in regional languages including Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

Hariom Tyagi, CEO of Wet and Dry Personal Care, said, “As the complete feminine hygiene expert, everteen has continually taken leadership to create awareness on menstrual and feminine hygiene over the years. Since 2014, our everteen Menstrual Hygiene Surveys have mapped emerging trends and preferences of Indian women. We are also one of the participating members of the global Menstrual Hygiene Day held annually with support of UNICEF, USAID and other organizations.”

Highlighting the role of video-based learning in creating awareness through the #FixYourPeriods campaign, Mr. Tyagi added, “Creating awareness on complete feminine hygiene is the need of the hour, and video-based education has emerged as one of the most effective means for it. Statistics show that in India, mobile video consumption has grown to as high as 73%. In fact, KPMG estimates that India will have more than 500 million online video subscribers by 2023.

everteen salutes the immense contributions of YouTube and Instagram bloggers, who helped harness multiplier effect in creating unprecedented awareness on menstrual cups and have impacted the quality of life of Indian women in dealing with periods. These bloggers displayed inspiring creativity through fun and engaging mascots such as Cupwati and dramatizing real-life issues that women undergo during periods.”

Through the #FixYourPeriods campaign, everteen gave Indian women an open forum to clarify doubts so that they could make better informed choices in adopting modern menstrual hygiene methods. As many as 20% of the girls were unaware that menstrual cups allow them to pursue outdoor activities with ease. Another 8% of the women did not know that menstrual cups created a vacuum seal that provided them leak-proof protection during periods.



Nearly 10% of the girls wanted a reassurance that using menstrual cups will not cause any risk of infection. They learnt that good quality period cups made from medical-grade silicone are among the most skin-friendly and safe. The social media influencers also helped girls understand how to choose the right size of the menstrual cup suitable for them, how to insert and remove the menstrual cup, different types of folds, do’s and don’ts, things to keep in mind while choosing the right menstrual cup and several other aspects. The campaign busted myths and helped create awareness on a growing body of medical research that is in line with the huge popularity of this menstrual hygiene method.

The everteen #FixYourPeriods campaign was launched the same week when The Lancet Public Health Journal’s published the world’s first-ever systematic review and meta-analysis of the international use of menstrual cups. This review stressed on the need for practice, peer support and training to initiate women in adopting menstrual cups. According to a 2018 data published by World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 3.73 billion women in the world, out of which 1.9 billion, or 52% women are of reproductive age, implying that they are menstruating. This constitutes roughly 26% of the world’s entire population that need menstrual hygiene management.

In a transparent point-based metric system, #FixYourPeriods campaign team rated YouTubers and Instagrammers across criteria based on reach, influence and awareness of their social media posts. Mangalore-based Kannada YouTuber Priya Monica scored the highest to emerge as the first prize winner of everteen’s #FixYourPeriods, campaign. Khushboo Rajendra Chawda from Mumbai was the runner-up winner. Ten other social media influencers from different parts of the country were also recognized for their winning contributions. One of the high points of this unique initiative is that the content created on YouTube and Instagram will help girls and women seek accurate and comprehensive information on menstrual cups for years to come, thanks to the long tail nature of the digital media.

Instagram Will Switch Its Feed From Chronological To Show Best Post first

The average Instagram user misses 70 percent of what’s in their feed, including great photos with tons of Likes and posts by their best friends. So today Instagram announced it will start rearranging the order of posts in its feed. Rather than strictly reverse chronological, Instagram will order posts “based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post.”

Filtered feeds tend to score more attention from users, as there are few boring posts that push them to close the app and do something else. And at this point, Instagram is so ingrained in people’s lives that they’re unlikely to ditch it over this change. But with Instagram and Twitter both moving to algorithmically sorted feeds, getting seen on social media will become more of a competition than ever.

These changes mean if you don’t check your feed until the next morning but a friend whose photos you usually Like posted something awesome the night before, it could appear at the top of your feed even if it is hours old.

On the one hand, the relevancy-optimized Instagram feed will make sure you don’t miss great content even if you don’t neurotically check it all the time. You’ll be able to follow more accounts without worrying about them drowning out your favorites. And it will be easier to keep up with international friends who might normally post while you’re asleep.

At the same time, remixing the feed will make Instagram less useful as a real-time content feed because the most recent posts won’t necessarily be at the top. Users will have to worry about making their posts good enough to be chosen by the algorithm or their posts could be de-prioritized. And brands might lose the reach of a previously reliable marketing channel, the same way they did with Facebook Pages.

This is essentially how Facebook’s feed works, and how Twitter recently reconfigured its feed to work.

Please let us know your view on this feed change by instagram.

Aamir Khan joins Instagram

Aamir Khan, an ace Bollywood actor has joined the celebrity list who have joined Instagram lately (Aamir Khan Instagram profile), Aamir known in film industry as perfectionist has joined the photo sharing app that will provide its fan peek into actor's personal life. Aamir already have Twitter and facebook official accounts.

He started posting pictures on Instagram on Wednesday, his very first photo shared was an image of his with his wife saying, 'My wife, my life, my everything.'

Thereafter he tweeted - 'No time for tweeting, just time for posting my pictures in small boxes represent my daily days. Good morning!'

He lastly dedicated an image to celebrated author Maya Angelou calling her 'a true inspirational woman'.

Aamir seems to be off Twitter from posting his photos and rather finding Instagram as new medium to post photos from his daily life. Currently he is following just 2 people on Instagram that are ofcourse two Bollywood faces - actor Abhishek Bachchan and singer Yo Yo Honey Singh.

Along with Aamir there are quite a few people from bollywood who regularly post their photos on Instagram namely - Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Sonakshi Sinha and Deepika Padukone.

Aamir is all set to release his upcoming film ‘PK’ in December.