Instagram Launches Search for Desktop Users

Following a welcome upgrade to 1080px pictures, Instagram today announced enhancements of the desktop experience: it is adding a search feature for its website, Instagram.com, reports TechCrunch.

Starting today, users can now search hashtags, profiles, and locations on Instagram.com. But there is more: landing pages for geotags and hashtags as well as some of the top posts at a glance when searching for a specific location or hashtag.

“While Instagram.com is designed to be complementary to the mobile apps, it’s important to the global conversations that happen on Instagram,” an Instagram spokesperson said.

As an Instagram spokesperson pointed out while speaking with TechCrunch, the desktop version remains secondary as the company focuses on mobile, but the number of web embeds is on the rise and drives traffic: nearly 5.3 billion impressions.

You may recall that earlier this month, when a spokesperson confirmed the rollout of 1080px Instagrams, the company specified that it doesn’t plan to release that feature on the web. As it turns out, it was busy upgrading the “second-class citizen” to meet the demand for a better web interface.