Tumblr to introduce paid advertisements for brands

Tumblr's David Karp founded the site in 2007

Blogging platform Tumblr is to introduce paid advertisements on its service, despite its owner once saying that online ads "turn our stomachs".

The site's founder David Karp said brands would be offered space within the site's "dashboard" from 2 May.

Many brands already use Tumblr, but this will be the first time they can pay for added exposure on the platform.

Tumblr has been seeking extra revenue streams after enjoying rapid growth over the past 12 months.

The adverts will appear in the service's pre-existing "radar" slot which is currently used to showcase popular posts from other users.

Speaking at <link> <caption>Ad Age's Digital Conference in New York</caption> <url href="http://adage.com/article/special-report-digital-conference/social-media-tumblr-announces-foray-paid-ads/234214/" platform="highweb"/> </link> , Mr Karp said he was an "idiot" for telling the Los Angeles Times that he was "opposed to advertising" during an interview in 2010.

He had accused ad platforms on rival services such as Facebook and Google of being "devoid of creativity".

In an another interview with Ad Age earlier this month, he said Tumblr could monetise itself immediately by displaying Google's advertising, but that this would be "a complete last resort".

Since launching in 2007, Tumblr has grown massively, now boasting over 40 million individual blogs.

The platform has become increasingly popular as a way of sharing web memes, or in-jokes, such as <link> <caption>Texts From Hillary Clinton</caption> <url href="http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/" platform="highweb"/> </link> - a site which <link> <caption>counted the US Secretary of State among its many fans</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17672730" platform="highweb"/> </link> .