Facebook and Instagram are making major changes to their hashtag search APIs on December 11th. The hashtag search via the old Instagram Platform API will be shut down and replaced by a new Hashtag Search feature for Businesses. The switch will affect what data is available and how it can be collected via the API.
Like the old hashtag search, the new one enables brands to find public posts that have been tagged with a #hashtag, but severely restricts how and what data apps like Minter.io can collect via hashtags.
Here’s what’s changing and how you can get the most out of your Instagram data.
You need an Instagram Business account. Hashtag tracking is now only available to Instagram business accounts and requires authentication by a Facebook user with a role on a Facebook page linked to an Instagram business account. If you haven't connected a business profile to Minter.io yet, please do it as soon as possible to keep your hashtag reports up and running. You can read more about Instagram business accounts here.
Hashtags only return posts published in the last 24 hours. When you add a new Instagram hashtag report, you’ll only be able to access public posts published with this hashtag in the last 24 hours. There’s no more historical data, unfortunately. We recommend setting up your hashtag report before launching your hashtag campaign or contest, so you can make sure you don’t miss out on any posts.
No сontributor data. Following the privacy trends, Instagram removes all user information from hashtag posts. This means you won’t be able to see any Contributor data after the changes come into effect, including the number of unique users who posted with your hashtag, their Reach and Impressions.
No location data. The geotags added by users are no longer available via the new API; this means you can no longer see where your hashtag is used the most.
Minter.io will fully support the new Hashtag Search API when the old one is deprecated on December 11th. We are doing everything we can to make the switch as smooth as possible for our users. The only thing you need to do to make sure your hashtag reports keep running is to connect an Instagram Business account to Minter.io.
To address these data changes, we added support for Mentions. This new feature allows you to monitor your brand mentions in public posts and comments on Instagram. We recommend setting up a mention tracker and encouraging your audience to mention your brand instead of just using hashtags alone. Not only you won’t miss any important posts, but you can also comment on the posts your brand was mentioned in directly from your Minter.io dashboard. You can learn more about the Mentions feature here.
We will continue to add new features and data to your reports as soon as it is available via the Instagram API.
If you have any questions about your hashtag report, please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@minter.io.