Instagam is massive. Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. Sometimes this means they are too big to fail, and can pretty much do whatever they like.
Ever since Instagram implemented their non-chronological feed and ads, you will find that there is an uptake in paid posts on your feed.
If you are getting frustrated by the annoying Instagram ads, the following information will provide you with a step-by-step option to help reduce and eventually remove those ads.
How do Instagram ads work?
Instagram ads work by tracking your activity on the app. For instance, the more you interact with a brand and its content, the more ads you will see for that brand.
Interactions such as liking and commenting on posts make you a target for these ads.
Instagram also tracks activities on Facebook, and other sites owned by Facebook.
These ads can be so invasive, that sometimes you may not be able to tell the difference between an ad and a post.
Can you identify Instagram advertisements?
You can differentiate between posts and ads by looking at the top of the ‘post’. Just underneath the brand name, you will see it labeled as Sponsored.
There will also be an action button on the ad at the bottom of the post. Sponsored ads may also be videos or images that has a call to action attached to it. These elements are all based on the ad’s intent.
Prompts to click on ads can include verbiage like this:
- Learn More, which is intended to provide more information about a product or service in the ad.
- Install Now, which is a prompt to install the advertised app.
- Download is for downloading the product advertised.
- Shop Now prompts you to buy the product from the ad.
- Sign Up wants you to register on the advertised site.
Can you find ads information on the Instagram app?
Yes. You can. Instagram, known for tracking everything, also tracks the ads upon which you have engaged.
This data is found under your Ad Activity. Here is how you view this information.
- Tap your profile image, in the bottom right corner, and get into your profile.
- Tap the three little bars in the top right corner to find your Settings.
- Tap Ads from there and then Ad Activity.
From here, you will find out what Instagram ads you have recently engaged with.
You can also choose Ad Topics, where you can select topics you don’t want to see to have them removed. That will reduce your ads, at least for those selected topics.
How can you remove Instagram ads?
You can use different methods to remove Instagram ads.
- Hiding
- Reporting
- Blocking
These actions can be done right from the ad content.
Here is how you do this:
- When you see a Sponsored ad that you don’t want to see, tap the three little dots in the top right corner of the post.
- Tap the Hide Ad option.
- You will be asked, “Why are you hiding this ad?”, which is where you will pick an option.
These options are how Instagram helps to enhance your ad experience from that time. You are essentially customizing your own ad experience on the app.
How to report Instagram ads
Another way to reduce/remove ads from your Instagram feed is to report ads. You should be careful to only report advertisements that you think are misleading or inappropriate, not just any old ad.
This is how it’s done:
- In the top, right corner of the ad’s post, tape the three little dots.
- Choose Report Ad.
- Answer why you are reporting this ad from the available selections.
Do not falsely report ads that don’t violate rules or mislead others.
How to block brands
The final method of reducing/removing Instagram ads involves blocking brands’ accounts. This will block these ads from your feed.
- Go to the brand or company from the Sponsored post to go to the profile of said brand/company.
- In the top, right corner of the profile, tap the three dots (menu).
- Tap Block.
- You will see two selections, which relate to whether you want to block the actual profile, or any profiles the brand/company may create. Then select Block.
Understand that this will simply remove only the ads from that one page from your feed. The process must be repeated for other brands and ads.
Conclusion
Other than installing an ad blocker, which can have ads of its own or prevent you from using other apps such as private story viewers, these are the options for reducing/removing ads.
Now that you know how to get rid of ads on Instagram, you can start customizing your own feed.
