Facebook's Instagram starts tool for embedding images across Internet

Facebook Inc. is unveiling tools for its Instagram service that will let users embed photos and videos on outside websites, including blogs and news providers, seeking to spread its influence and woo more consumers.

The new feature requires a few clicks of a mouse to place a video or photo on a Web page, Facebook said in a blog post today. The tool, designed to maintain privacy settings, is only available for content that's already public, the Menlo Park, California-based company said.

The owner of the world's most popular social-networking service is rolling out new features for its Instagram unit to help expand its reach on mobile devices where users are increasingly shifting their activity. Facebook, competing against services from Twitter Inc. and others, announced last month it was adding video to its photo-sharing service.

“As always, you own your photos and videos, and we want to make sure that's understood no matter where your content appears,” the company said. “Whether you want to embed your video on your blog or a friend wants to feature your photo on a website, everyone will clearly see that your content belongs to you.”

Instagram, which Facebook bought last year for more than $700 million, has more than 130 million monthly users. More than 16 billion photos have been shared on the service.

--Editors: Pui-Wing Tam, Reed Stevenson

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13bloomberg.net