Quickly scrolling past on that you don't care to see could soon no longer be an option. With , Instagram became more like . With , Meta paired Instagram with a new competitor.
And now, the social media giant may be taking a page out of 's book. Instagram is testing out a feature that stops some users from scrolling for a brief period of time to watch an ad, a spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Business Insider. Only some users can see this feature, per posts on and Reddit, but Meta said the feature could become a permanent addition to the app.
"We're always testing formats that can drive value for advertisers. As we test and learn, we will provide updates should this test result in any formal product changes," the spokesperson told BI. YouTube employs a similar ad strategy, making users of its free version sit through advertisements before they can watch videos.
Like Instagram allows users to scroll past ads that appear in the main feed — or in between Stories — though that may now change. According to social media posts from users who have been served the new unskippable ads, when users scroll through content, they see a small counter at the bottom of their screen that says "Sometimes you may need to view an ad before you can keep browsing," a text box explaining the feature on the Instagram app says, per a screenshot captured by . Business Insider was unable to see the ad break feature on Instagram.
Over the past few years, Instagram has been experimenting with ne.