Dive Brief:

• Image sharing site Imgur has announced plans to start advertising on the site. 
• By 2015, Imgur will be launching Promoted Posts, which will be a style of native ad that mimics organic posts on the site. 
• To spearhead efforts, the image sharing site has hired former Pinterest marketer Steve Patrizi. 

Dive Insight: 

If you've seen a meme on any social site, there's a good chance it has origins at Imgur. It was only a matter of time before the started using advertising streams. Like any other site that rose to Internet without ads—such as Tumblr and Instagram—Imgur will have to tread lightly and introduce ads at a pace that doesn't alienate users.