The End of 'Link in Bio'? Meta Rolls Out Direct Product Tagging for Instagram Reels

For more than a decade, Instagram influencers have ended product promotions by telling followers to “shop via the link in bio” — but that ubiquitous phrase could soon become a relic of early social media, just like MySpace’s iconic Top 8 friends list or the original pre-rebrand Twitter. Parent company Meta is launching a new feature that will let select creators tag and link products directly within their Instagram Reels.

Direct product tagging eliminates the frustrating extra step that has long created friction for both shoppers and creators. Instead of asking followers to exit the Reel they’re watching, navigate to the creator’s profile, then click a separate link to find the item they want, fans can go straight to the product in just one tap.

According to industry trade publication Retail Dive, Meta shared the news at the Shoptalk Spring retail and e-commerce conference. The feature is scheduled to launch this spring, with an initial rollout to a limited group of creators across five markets, before expanding access to creators in 22 total countries. Each Reel post will support up to 30 unique product links. Meta did not respond to an independent request for additional comment on the launch.

“For creators, when it comes to highlighting products, this means that the era of link in bio is finally over,” Nicola Mendelsohn, head of Meta’s global business group, said at the conference.

The “link in bio” call to action first emerged as a workaround for Instagram’s original design, which was built to keep users on the app rather than directing them to external websites. For years, Instagram only allowed users to add one external link, which had to live on their profile page. That limitation turned “link in bio” prompts and automated DM link tools into standard practice for influencers and marketing teams looking to guide followers through a sales funnel.

As Instagram grew into a major global social commerce hub, the platform has slowly loosened its long-standing restrictions on external links. Meta added support for links in Instagram Stories back in 2016, and in 2023, it updated profiles to let users add up to five separate links directly to their bio section.

Linkable product tags in Reels mark the first time creators can add direct product links to content that lives in users’ main feeds. The feature also boosts discoverability for creators, as tagged Reels are more likely to be pushed to interested users by Instagram’s recommendation algorithm.

This new feature and other recent design tweaks to Meta’s apps come as social platforms face growing public and regulatory scrutiny over their product design choices, coming off a $3 million court judgment against Meta and Google in a high-profile social media addiction trial last month. The rollout also aligns with a massive boom in creator-focused advertising spend, which is projected to reach $37 billion by 2025.

Meta frames product tagging for Reels as a way to help creators monetize their work more easily, but it also signals the beginning of the end of an entire era of influencer marketing. The company is already testing direct links in post captions for Meta Verified subscribers, indicating that the long-standing barriers that once discouraged off-site links could be coming down entirely across Instagram.