SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook has decided that Instagram can be a serious ad business.

Instagram, which started testing advertising two years ago, has taken advantage of Facebook’s network of marketers and tools this year to quickly expand its offerings.

From yesterday, Instagram ads, which began with large brands, are now also open to small businesses, in 31 more countries, the company said in a blog post. Advertisers now have a variety of options, such as 30-second video spots and ads with prompts such as “Shop Now” and “Install Now”.

Instagram, a photo-sharing application, is the first of Facebook’s properties, outside its main app, that has reached this level of advertising sophistication. Its integration with Facebook’s resources to provide more options for advertisers shows how quickly the company’s other, bigger chat apps, Messenger and WhatsApp, could make more money.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said he is not interested in ramping up money-making on those properties until they reach 1 billion users. WhatsApp is close; the global messaging service announced last week that it has 900 million monthly active users.

Instagram, with 300 million monthly active users, has a key advantage over rivals because parent Facebook’s vast trove of consumer data allows it to target audiences more accurately, offering a major selling point for advertisers.

“It would have taken us years to build some of this technology without Facebook. We can take advantage of years of experience,” said Mr James Quarles, global head of business and brand development at Instagram, in an interview reported by Reuters last week.

But users who have grown comfortable with mostly ad-free Instagram feeds of photos from people they follow, may rebel. For the past two years, Instagram has only allowed ads by certain brands, such as Victoria’s Secret and Old Navy.

Until Wednesday, Instagram ads had only been available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and Brazil. By the end of the month they will be in more than 200.

Advertisers have been clamouring for the chance to get on the increasingly popular app to tap its user base of teenagers to young adults, and its ability to leverage data from Facebook, the world’s largest social network with 1.5 billion users.

Facebook, which bought Instagram for US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) in 2012, dominates mobile advertising, with more than 75 per cent of its US$3.8 billion ad revenue coming from phones. Instagram ad revenue is projected to reach US$1.5 billion next year, according to eMarketer, a research firm, and nearly double by 2017 to US$2.8 billion.

Instagram has been working to provide more creative options for advertisers. In addition to its signature square, new layout options introduced last month for pictures and videos allow more design flexibility.

The new video formats are also an effort to attract film producers, as the layout is ideal for movie trailers and premieres, Mr Quarles said.

“Instagram is a platform we know our targets are engaging the most on, and it’s more appealing on that platform,” said Ms Monique Lemus, director of media buying at The Media Kitchen, an ad buying agency. Agencies