Parasite - delayed posting on Instagram. How "black" and "white" promotion works on Instagram: an interview with the developers of the Parasite delayed posting service
Anton Golubev to find out how the promotion market works on Instagram. Specialists from Parasite are working on a delayed posting and analytics service, but due to the specifics of the market, they turned out to be well aware of its darker side.
- Tell us what you do and what you do not are doing.
Our service saves a person from having to publish through the phone by the hour. For any serious brand, this is almost impossible, because the content release schedule is very tight, it must be synchronized, planned, there must be no interruptions. Planning content for a month in advance in a folder on the desktop, and then uploading it manually through the application is not serious and inconvenient.
However, we do not directly promote. “Promotion” usually means the use of services that increase the number of subscribers using actions prohibited by Instagram - automatic likes (ML, “mass-like”) and automatic subscriptions (MF, “mass-following”). We basically do not provide such functions.
We not only help promote accounts on Instagram, but rather allow them to be managed conveniently and efficiently - for this there are tools for delayed posting, publication schedules, analytics, and work with Direct.
How to schedule posts with Parasite
Step 0 If desired, we edit the photo in a professional editor (instead of the modest means of Instagram).
Step 1. Go to parasitelab.com, click "Add Post" and select or drag and drop a photo or video.
Step 2 If the image is not square, then the service will allow you to crop or post as a portrait or widescreen photo.
Step 3 We add a signature, select a geolocation, we can add the first comment. And of course, we set the date and time of posting.
Everything is ready, the photo is planned.
If there is a lot of content, then you can use the schedule grid and create description templates.
The service also allows you to chat via direct messages (with a full keyboard it is much more convenient to do this) and collect analytics. For analytics, however, you will have to separately purchase the services of a proxy server provider - in the future, Parasite plans to get rid of this restriction.
Who is the service aimed at? Who is your typical client?
Among the clients there are large, well-known companies, and digital publications. We are focused specifically on brands, so the features that we are going to implement are developed with them in mind. But simple bloggers, owners of shops, local businesses, and so on also register with us.
- Do I understand correctly that from the point of view of a small business, there are two ways: one - well, roughly speaking, to collect a “showcase” of nine photos folded together or a selection of product photos and start MF and ML, the second is to honestly maintain an account with what something interesting and promoted by white methods (for example, through Instagram itself)?
Quite right. A normal small business on Instagram operates in the dark. ML and MF are now actually killing accounts - they give few buyers, but strategically the account becomes corrupted, it has low engagement, it does not show up by tags, its posts in the general feed are low due to the ranking mechanism. In general, the account is specially pessimized and will occupy the last places in any issue.
Large brands usually do not need promotion in the form of MF and ML, as well as spam (mailings to Direct), but they need a service for organizing convenient operation, where it is not scary to enter a password. So reputation is very important here.
It often happens that a brand outsources its account management to an SMM agency. And this agency has twenty-five other clients. It is impossible for everyone to post over the phone, so the agency simply buys access to our service for many, many accounts and connects them.
It is clear to us that the market for "black" promotion will die, because it is playing against Instagram - taking advertising revenue from it. Instagram is constantly testing new algorithms for blocking and counteracting these services, from time to time it sends out "letters of happiness" (C&D, cease and desist letter - an order to prohibit illegal actions). And most importantly, it introduces mechanics that make such promotion unprofitable. Vkontakte has already gone through this evolution, for example, where no one is “catching up” with bots in their groups, because it has become meaningless, even though it worked before.
- But there is another type of clients - those who, roughly speaking, have bought a carload of spinners and would like to sell them before they go out of fashion. Probably, the “black” way is just more profitable for them?
This is true. If you need to quickly sell retail in a limited volume, then the entire standard Business Youth course is included - a free landing page, Instagram with connected ML and MF, and so on.
If the account is worth nothing, then it can be promoted through ML and MF, but this is precisely a short-term project, because over time the account will either become a “shadow” (it will no longer be displayed by hashtags, will not fall into popular and similar posts, posts will go to the most bottom) or will be blocked. ML and MF are not suitable for normal business, at least because there will always be a risk of blocking the official account. No serious company will do this.
- Are popular bloggers and other celebrities also your client or is it too narrow a segment to work with separately?
We do not single them out in a separate segment now. Still, the market for businesses, brands and agencies is much wider. There is also such a moment - if the account is very cool, for example, a well-known blogger with more than a million subscribers, then it is usually not connected to any services, because the stakes are too high. Such an account costs a lot, the owners do not dare to take risks. Either they post on their own, or the secretary does it manually.
- By the way, one of the promotion opportunities is buying posts from popular bloggers. How does this happen, what are the features?
Our team has a cool SMM expert. She will talk about it.
- As far as I know, Instagram does not have external APIs. Accordingly, you somehow bypass this restriction. Does this violate the user agreement?
There really are no external APIs. If we consider the user agreement, it turns out that the posting tools violate the rules in letter, but not in spirit. The rules of Instagram are aimed at reducing the level of spam and increasing the company's revenue (to take ads in the application, and not promotion services through ML and MF). Delayed posting does not contradict the strategy of Instagram, and therefore the company has never paid attention to such services. They have almost no risks, and so do user accounts.
In addition, we have taken all possible steps to ensure maximum user safety. From the side of Instagram, everything looks harmless, that is, posting through our service cannot be distinguished from posting through the phone manually.
In fact, end users rarely have problems even after attracting promotion funds through ML and MF, but bans still happen, and we don’t go to this market, although the functions themselves are much simpler in implementation than delayed posting.
- And if the spam service does not stop working, Instagram will sue it?
This is a subtle moment. With most services, it is not clear where and how to sue. Some kind of LLC is registered somewhere in the Russian Federation, it is not clear how it is connected with the site. Another thing is services that are registered in the US, like us. For us, such a letter is really the end, because we are in the same legal field, and suing Instagram in America is a very bad idea. For our users, this is a guarantee that we work with increased vigilance and caution.
How exactly does your service work? Virtual machines with Android are spinning in the cloud?
We cannot disclose technical details - this is our secret, and it is difficult to develop such a service from scratch. We have many non-banal solutions that competitors, for example, could not implement. They even engage in industrial espionage - they wrote to us under the guise of students who allegedly do coursework and for her they want to know the features of some of our modules.
Can you tell me how others get around this? For example, those who are engaged in spam.
Let's just say that the most difficult part of developing such a product is similar to that for delayed posting. AT general case- this is a complete emulation of the official application. And what functions to implement later on its basis - delayed posting or ML, MF, DM - this is the tenth question. By the way, this is why Instagram sends letters to the owners of the ML and MF services, and does not block their access. On their part, it is impossible to distinguish the operation of such a service from an ordinary user.
- What needs to be done to run into a "letter of happiness"? How does Instagram decide that it is time to punish someone?
Employees monitor the market and individually send letters. At the same time, only large players are in the field of view now. And we know huge scheduling services (with millions of dollars in revenue by our estimates) that don't have any problems. Instagram is not particularly interested in them, because they do not take away money. They work and let them work.
- Accounts whose owners use MF and ML are also blocked, right?
Everything is more complicated here. Technically, it is difficult for Instagram to understand whether an account uses automation tools. The hardest thing to figure out posting. It’s easier with likes, subscriptions and comments, because if, for example, 3,000 likes a day fly from an account for a month, then it’s clear that this person doesn’t do it manually.
However, if the account is already old (that is, it has been running for a long time, there are a lot of posts in it), Instagram will almost never ban it for ML and MF. For example, if you take my personal account, which is already five years old, and start spamming it with all your might, then it will not be so easy to get a ban, if at all.
But if the account is young, for example, just registered, then yes, Instagram can shoot immediately after the start of promotion - temporarily or permanently block the profile.
- If old accounts are valued, then they are sold and bought?
Of course, the older, the more expensive. But there is one caveat - it is not the age of the account that is important, but the age of prolonged activity in it. That is, if the account is five years old, but the first post was posted yesterday, then it is one day old from the point of view of Instagram. Or, for example, the post was five years ago, and then silence. Or extremely rare posts.
- It turns out that a competent spammer not only sells momentary services, but also gradually grows his stock?
No, that would be too expensive. They need a lot more accounts than they can grow at home. If you look at spam on Instagram, it is mostly sent from relatively new accounts. That is, it is cheaper to buy autoregisters in bulk. Blocked - got a new one.
- How much are accounts on the black market now?
The cost of newly registered accounts is small, now from 2 to 15 rubles. But with multiple registrations, Instagram also began to actively fight.
Often spammers build a pyramid, that is, they leave comments from one account, and in his profile they leave a link to the target one, in which case the target account is safe.
- But they also sell upgraded accounts?
Oh sure. They also sell hacked accounts. A completed account (with photos) for 12 months is about 100-150 rubles. If quite old, even more so. A hacked one can cost several thousand. If it is large, with a huge audience, then the price is potentially unlimited.
Let's say someone buys 100 hacked accounts, they have history and activity, accounts won't get banned quickly. Further, all accounts are renamed and photos are uploaded to them, well, for example, watches. Each account starts using ML and puts 1000 likes per day. Efficiency has increased, plus accounts will live longer than newly registered ones.
![](https://i2.wp.com/xakep.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/135781/forum.jpg)
By the way, we are often asked about the function of deleting all photos from the account. It's just for those cases. Of course, we do not have such a function.
- How long ago did the hype around promotion on Instagram begin? The service itself was launched in 2010. The Android version appeared, I think, in 2012. Did the first talk about commerce start somewhere in 2013? Spam seems to have become noticeable two years ago, in 2015...
We have a person who was one of the first to implement the ML and MF algorithm at one time. So, I think Artyom will be able to answer better by years and dates.
Parasite Technical Director Artyom Antipov on the first implementation of MF and ML
In 2013, I wrote the first script for Instagram. His work was very different from current methods and allowed me to gain 150 thousand subscribers in a short time with an engagement of 15 thousand likes per photo. We have created a lot of such accounts.
At that time, Instagram still had APIs open. There are two types of keys on Instagram: public (which is obtained directly in the browser) and private (which is obtained on the server). I was interested in services that use a public key and that have privileges for likes and subscriptions. Then I bought an account to analyze backlinks and found all the “backlinks” for authorization on Instagram of third-party applications that use authorization in the browser. I think I got about a hundred keys in one evening - a small hacker win.
The presence of these keys allowed me to like and subscribe on behalf of my account. In fact, this is authorization through third party application. Nothing criminal.
Of course, I myself could not register so many applications: even then it was necessary to go through some kind of identification, so, in fact, I received 100 applications. I used no more than five keys for each account, and each key allowed up to 30 likes per hour. As a result, I could put about 3500 likes per day. Since this kind of promotion wasn't popular back then, I got crazy activity in return.
After some time, Instagram began to take away from third party services rights for likes and subscriptions, and after some time completely removed authorization with a public key. Thus ended the story of one of the world's first automation scripts for Instagram.
Now people are already accustomed to this, the return is weaker at times. No one pays attention to another unfamiliar account that liked you, and then every first one went over and subscribed, liked in response. In those days, it was possible to grow a huge network of accounts, and now they can be sold, for example.
For account managers who are trading platforms, in other words, it will suit almost all Instagram business accounts. Parasite has three key features dressed in a nice minimalist design. Namely, delayed posting on Instagram according to a schedule, the ability to receive messages in Direct and immediately correspond with clients without leaving the personal account of the service, as well as the built-in ability to analyze your publications.
Parasite service interface is a cozy minimalistic Personal Area in which there is nothing superfluous. The main functions are placed in a separate menu at the top, so it's impossible to get confused.
Publication scheduling is done at the click of a button. We upload a pre-processed image, insert text, geolocation, publication time and post.
Scheduled posts appear in your account.
On the Direct tab, we find almost the same mobile version an interface in which you can and should communicate with customers and quickly respond to their questions and requests.
By and large, the Parasite delayed posting service is a convenient desktop version for comfortable work with Instagram, planning content placement in advance and monitoring incoming requests. The Parasite delayed posting service is ideal for those who do not need anything extra and those who want to focus on work as much as possible or focus their sales manager on it. It happens.
The rates for using the Parasite deferred posting service at the time of writing are presented below. But Parasite constantly has some kind of activity and you can safely get a discount for renewing services.
In conclusion, I want to add that if you are looking for an unrealistically simple, convenient and stable service for delayed posting on Instagram, then Parasite should suit you perfectly. I haven't come across any simpler solutions for the initial task. Just plan, write and wait for the posts to appear on Instagram on schedule. Well, the price is completely similar to the cost of competitors' services. So the product is super competitive.
I hope the information was useful and timely to you. Subscribe to the channel of this blog in the Telegram messenger and the channel of this blog in the TamTam messenger, I'm pleased, it's useful for you. And I remind you that I am always in touch. You can write to me at the email specified in the contacts. I always answer.
Parasite is a cloud-based scheduling posting service for Instagram. The service allows you to upload and schedule posts on Instagram from your computer: it is enough to schedule posts for a month in advance once, and you can no longer manually fill in your account. This is convenient if you maintain an active account or several pages at the same time.
Parasite allows you to upload photos, videos and gifs. Bulk upload is available - for this you need to transfer images to the site window in a stack.
The service stands out for its modern minimalist design, and ease of use is one of the main advantages of Parasite. Of course, along with powerful Instagram tools.
From the possibilities of the service, we highlight:
- Delayed posting of photos and videos up to a minute;
— Schedule of publications;
- Proxy support;
— Description of publications, geotags, emoticons and templates;
- Analytics on Instagram accounts;
— View feed and gallery, work with likes and comments;
— Connecting up to 30 accounts;
- Instant technical support directly on the site.
Autoposting with Parasite
To start working with the service, you need to link an Instagram account. At the minimum tariff (Lite), the user can add 3 accounts, at the maximum (Premium) - up to 30. Press the "Add account" button
To connect an Instagram account, you must enter a username and password. Some may be put off by this, as people are afraid of losing their accounts. However, in the case of Parasite, you should not worry for the following reasons:
- The service asks for a login and password only to establish a connection with the Instagram servers;
— The Service does not store login data for user accounts, does not use or transfer them to third parties;
– Connection to the site is carried out using the secure HTTPS protocol, the world standard in the field of data security;
— Parasite is one of the most famous and respected services of delayed posting, which values its reputation and, accordingly, the safety of users.
In general, calmly enter your account information and click the "Add" button.
Once an account has been added to Parasite, you can move on to working with content. The main feature of the service is auto-posting on Instagram. We select a photo, video or GIF on the computer, and the files are uploaded to the service. After that, you need to add a description, select the date and time of publication - you're done, the post will be published in your Instagram account in given time.
The service offers wide functionality for editing and designing posts. The user can not only set a description, but also edit the image, add a geotag, and even set the first comment.
After uploading posts, they are displayed on a separate page - "Scheduled". By the way, posts can be deleted at any time, change the description or schedule for another time.
One of the main features of Parasite is a convenient posting schedule. The schedule works as follows: the user sets up at what time to publish a particular number of posts, and saves the schedule. Subsequently, the service automatically distributes all new posts according to this schedule.
For example, in the screenshot below, the following schedule is selected:
- 1 post between 10:00 and 11:00
- 1 post between 12:00 and 13:00
– 2 posts between 20:00 and 21:00
— 1 post between 00:00 and 01:00
Thus, the schedule assumes the publication of 5 posts per day. If we upload 10 images, they will be automatically scheduled two days in advance - in full accordance with the configured schedule. Cool and very comfortable.
But an even cooler "trick" is the joint work of bulk upload with a publication schedule. In Parasite, this bundle is implemented on highest level- simple and convenient. Imagine that you need to quickly load and schedule 20, 30 or even 100 posts at once. What are you doing?
You no longer schedule each post manually. You simply transfer all the images to the site window at once - and thus the bulk upload works. Once the images are uploaded, you can distribute them automatically according to the previously set schedule. Loading and scheduling hundreds of posts takes one minute and 2-3 mouse clicks.
Analytics with Parasite
In addition to the main functionality, Parasite offers many additional SMM tools for working with Instagram. The most useful of them is analytics. This is a separate section on the site, which is responsible for collecting and providing detailed statistics for each account.
For example, you can track the dynamics of followers or likes and thus understand how your account is developing.
You don't have to pay for the analytics function separately - it is included in all service plans by default.
Direct
In addition to delayed posting and account analytics, Parasite allows you to work with Yandex.Direct: you can accept correspondence requests, reply and write new messages, receive files, and even send messages to Direct directly from the comments section. Working with Yandex.Direct is a very convenient feature for those who communicate a lot or sell their products and services in private messages on Instagram.
Feed and comments with Parasite
Another useful additional feature is the ability to view the feed, gallery, comments, and so on. Parasite is designed so that you can complete all your account management tasks without leaving the site.
Parasite rates
Of course, the service is not free - you always have to pay for convenience and automation in our world. But if you are a real specialist who values your time, using Parasite will be cost-effective for you, because the time saved can be spent on much more important tasks than the routine filling of accounts with content, right?
The good news is that the service is very affordable. For example, the minimum tariff, which includes all the functionality of the service and allows you to connect up to 3 Instagram accounts, costs only 299 rubles per month - the cost of one cup of coffee in Moscow.
The full tariff schedule looks like this:
Whether you maintain a personal account or a large network of customer accounts, in any case, you will find a suitable tariff. Of course, you do not need to pay right away - you can try the service for free to see if it fully solves your problems. For this, a free 7-day trial is provided.
To start free use register at the link:
However, the question often arises which deferred posting program to work with. Instagram is better choose. In this article you will find an overview of a very useful service Parasite, which will allow you to easily, quickly and efficiently schedule your posts on Instagram.
Registration in Parasite Instagram
So, let's go to the service page. To register with the Parasite service, go to home page and press the button Try for free:
As with any online service, you will be prompted to register by entering your email address and creating a password.
After registering for mail will come confirmation letter, and from that moment you will be able to test the service free of charge for 7 days. After this period, you will need to select and pay for one of the Parasite tariff plans.
Adding an Instagram account
Naturally, working with the service begins with adding your Instagram account. To do this, click the button Add an Instagram account:
In the window that opens, you must enter the username and password for your Instagram account. Then press the button Add account:
The number of accounts you can add depends on the plan you choose. During the trial period, you can use up to 10 Instagram accounts, since the trial period is given on the Standard plan.
To add new account, click on the button + Add account on the left side of the window and repeat the steps above.
The creators of the service claim that they do not store account login data in any form and do not transfer them to third parties.
Separately, I note that directly in the service in the Settings section you can change the password for your account.
You can also delete your account from the service at any time.
However, please note that deleting your account will delete all scheduled but not yet released posts.
Adding delayed publications
After adding an Instagram account, you can start working with publications. To do this, go to the section Publications and press the button + Add post.
A window will open in front of you in which you need to select the desired file.
You can choose from three ways to download - the easiest is to just drag the file to the window with the site, but you can also select the file on your computer and even download it from a link. By the way, often you need to upload many images at the same time - for this, the service has a bulk upload. It works very simply: just transfer the files to the window with the site.
Photos and videos are uploaded in the same scenario. The only difference is that bulk upload is only available for images. Videos must be uploaded separately, one at a time.
Once uploaded, you can edit the image: change the scale, select a specific area. Both square and full-size images are available for download. Edit the image and click Further.
In the third and final step, you can add:
- description,
- first comment,
- geolocation,
- date and time for publication.
Please note that the publication date and time are set according to the time set on your computer.
Fill in all the fields you need and feel free to press the button Add post.
All publications you have scheduled will be displayed in the tab "Planned". You can always delete a previously scheduled publication - to do this, just hover over it with the mouse and click on the cross in the upper right corner of the image.
My publications
Parasite allows you to work with already published photos of your account. To do this, go to the tab My. There you will see all the published posts of your account. You can delete a post at any time - to do this, click on the cross in the upper right corner of the image.
Click on a post to view comments. In the window that opens, you can change the description of the publication, read the comments, add your own, like or unlike.
Once a delayed post is released at the specified time, it will automatically move out of the tab Planned to the tab My.
Pay attention to such an interesting option as Schedule. This feature saves a lot of time.
Schedule is a handy tool for automating work with content. Select the desired time and number of publications, and the service will automatically distribute all new publications in accordance with this schedule.
Analytics in Parasite Instagram
You can see the statistics of your Instagram account in the tab Analytics.
Please note that this option is only available for accounts with a connected proxy. The proxy is added in the account settings.
If analytics is available for your account, you will see three graphs: followers, likes, and comments. The service will track statistics, constantly update it and present it in a convenient way.
For each of the graphs, you can choose to display by hour, day or week.
Adding a proxy to Parasite Instagram
Connecting a proxy is necessary if, in addition to working with delayed publications, you are promoting your account using such means as mass liking and mass following. In this case, working without a proxy will create the risk of your account being banned by Instagram. Make sure that you use the same proxy server for delayed publications and promotion of your account. Also, a proxy is needed to collect and display analytics. If you do not use other services to work with Instagram and do not need analytics, you can safely not connect a proxy and use all the rest of the service's functionality without any problems.
You can add a proxy in the corresponding section settings by clicking on the button Proxy.
Parasite Instagram Description Templates
Very handy feature description templates. No more typed descriptions for every scheduled photo.
To add a template, go to the tab Settings and select section Templates. On the page that opens, click Add template.
On the first line, write the name of the template, on the second - the text of the template (what will be used as a description for your publications). Click the button Add template.
To use the template, add a new post. At the stage of editing the description, click on the template icon located to the right of the emoticon icon. Select the desired template from the list. It will automatically be used as the description.
Direct
In the settings bar, select the tab Direct. Here you will have access to all current correspondence and requests.
You can choose any dialogue and chat with users.
So let's sum it up. In my opinion, the Parasite Instagram delayed posting service has the following pleasant and useful features:
- simple and thoughtful interface;
- full posting of photos and videos;
- analytics for connected accounts;
- work with Direct;
- publication schedule;
- the ability to edit a publication, add a geotag;
- description templates;
- viewing the feed, publications, profiles.
If you have been looking for a convenient, safe and comfortable solution to the problem of delayed posting on Instagram for a long time, then I recommend testing the Parasite service.
All good ideas!
cloud service delayed posting Parasite is a real must-have among SMM platforms that offers to simplify work with accounts in social network on Instagram. Collaborates with owners of personal accounts, as well as with SMM specialists. The functionality of the site does not have unnecessary details. All the necessary buttons are in front of the webmaster, who can schedule posting on his page as quickly as possible by setting the exact system settings.
Functional
1. The cloud service offers not only the publication of text posts, but also the seamless download of audio and video format files. You can do this from any device available to you.
2. Minimum restrictions on the number of accounts. The allowed number is 30 pages. Settings are carried out from one tab, it is not necessary to re-login.
3. All account notifications can be tracked in the analytical section "Statistics"
4. The presence of a convenient function "Mass upload images". To do this, transfer the existing files to the service window.
5. Automation of posts. The functionality of the service will allow you to use ready-made templates and the "First comment" function.
6. Minimal risk of hacking for your Instagram pages. The parasitelab.com resource uses only an HTTPS connection and does not store your username and password to enter your account.
7. Distinguished service support is ready to answer the question within 1 minute. Administrators work even late at night.
How to get started with the service
To set up automated posting on Instagram, register at parasitelab.com.
After filling in the information about the mail and coming up with a password to enter the service, we proceed to add your account.
Enter your username and password and click the "Add Account" button.
We add our first posts in the "Publications" section.
The next step is to edit the added file by dragging the images to select an area.
We come up with a description and set the date when we want the post to be published. Click the "Add Post" button.
Go to the "Planned" section and see your post, which will appear in the feed at 11-30.
We track publication statistics in the "Analytics" section. To do this, do not forget to configure the proxy in the "Settings" section. Here we also create a schedule for publishing posts.
Other features of the Parasite profile include editing published material by removing irrelevant information. Plus, viewing the feed of publications of friends and personal posts.
Tariffs
To all new users, Parasite offers to use the free Lite tariff. You don't need to pay for it. Valid for 7 days from the date of registration. Delayed posting for three accounts.
At the end of the line tariff plan can be extended by activating the "Pay" button. The cost is 299 rubles per month.
Also, webmasters can switch to Standard and Premium plans with more functionality.
Contacts
Telegram: https://telegram.me/parasitelab
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parasite_lab/
Vkontakte: https://vk.com/parasitelab