Instagram Reportedly Testing 5-Second Unskippable Ad Breaks Feature

Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature called Ad Breaks that brings short but unskippable ads, according to recent claims on Reddit. The Meta-owned photo-sharing platform did not officially reveal any details about the test, but users across Reddit forums have reported its arrival. As per the posts on the forum, this move has dismayed users with many now considering an exit from the platform and switching to alternative social media apps.

Ad breaks feature on Instagram

In the Instagram subreddit, user @notthatogwiththename posted about the introduction of Ad Break, a feature that brings unskippable ads for select users. The post was filled with multiple comments about its introduction without any prior information. “I came here to post this because there are no talks about it anywhere”, a user commented.

This move has reportedly left many users dissatisfied with the social media platform. One user commented below the post, “Thought I've been taking crazy pills for two days because this is currently happening with me and I couldn't find any info anywhere other than your recent post. So thank you... and goodbye IG. I have no need for that.”

Ad Breaks on Instagram
Photo Credit: Reddit/notthatogwiththename

As visible in the screenshot, users now get three to five-second ads while scrolling on the app, preventing them from browsing during that period. A user highlighted that they tried to provide feedback about this feature to Instagram but “found nothing”. There have been no mentions of Ad Breaks anywhere, as per users.

The introduction of Ad Breaks has left many users to consider an exit from the platform and switch to alternate social media apps, as per the comments. One user said, “So far I simply close the app as soon as an ad break pops up and if this continues, I'll be unsubscribing.”

Another user complained about the company not doing “any research on this before pushing it onto the public” as it disrupts the user's flow.

Additions to Notes

Instagram recently unveiled new additions to Notes – a feature that lets users share their thoughts with friends. With Notes Prompts, users will now see questions and musings posted when they enter Notes, and they can post their Notes as a response to the question.

Furthermore, users can now quickly react to their friends' and followers' notes with the Quick Likes feature. The last addition is the tag feature where they can tag their friends using the ‘@' symbol before their username.