Instagram adds web search, letting people look for people, locations and

Instagram, after bringing a major overhaul to its Web interface last month, has now added a search bar on the website, bringing it closer to its mobile counterpart.

The function lets you search users, hashtags and locations in the same way you can on the app. On Monday a search bar appeared at the top of Instagram’s website that allows users to search by hashtag, user name or location.

The update has been released worldwide.

Now it appears that Instagram wants to minimize the disparity between the app and the website, and the search feature is a good step towards that.

Since 2010, smartphone users have been editing square-shaped photos with unique filters inside an app and then posting them to a social network. Little by little, Instagram has made its own web presence more fluid, and useful, and today’s newest rollout add to that overall experience. We’ve “better aligned our Web experience with our mobile app in a way that’s faster, cleaner, and more handsome”. A couple weeks ago it introduced high-resolution photos.

Optimizing discovery on the web is especially important, given the growing amount of Instagram content embedded on Facebook, Twitter and other websites. Besides amping up search for the Web, today’s new feature will also build out the landing pages for locations and hashtags. In 2003, the company has created its site, about three years, following the launch of its mobile application.