Instagram Ads
Whether we like it or not, ads are popping up all over social media, quite literally. Now, a user cannot even scroll through five photos on Instagram, for example, without seeing an ad.
But, nonetheless, millions of users continue to post, like and share on Instagram.
As the endless scrolling continues, a user might begin to notice that the ads showing up in their feed are products or accounts they might be interested in.
How does this happen? According to Instagram, they “use information about what you do on Instagram and Facebook (parent company) and on third-party sites and apps” to cater ads to users.
Further, a user may agree that a majority of the ads are relevant, but also, a handful of the ads are completely off.
Ads Interests
Recently, while messing around in my security settings I found a feature titled, Ads Interests.
If you click on this feature, its gives you the list of interests that Instagram has compiled for your account. This list is what Instagram uses to cater an ad to your feed.
Now you may be asking how to access this feature on your own account.
Here’s how to access the feature in you settings that allows you to see what Instagram ‘thinks’ you are interested in.
How it Works:
- Go to Settings
- Security
- Access Data
- Scroll down to Ads and select View More under Ads Interests
- You are now able to view your Ads Interests!
After discovering this feature, I have been checking my Ad Interests quite often as they can change daily.
One day it showed interests in:
- Home Decor
- “Association Football” (Soccer)
- Dogs
- WWE
The home decor and dogs interests were spot on, as I follow several accounts that post that type of content. As for the WWE and Soccer interests, well, I can’t say the same.
I do not follow any accounts pertaining to WWE or Soccer. Although I did find it quite funny that those two topics appeared in my Ad Interests.
When I checked the Ad Interests again, the results show up with online shopping, cosmetics, more shopping and luxury goods. This may be slightly better than the first look, but still slightly off.
All in all, viewing an ad on social media is inevitable. Further, a majority of users find these slightly annoying, but every once in a while the ads might be of interest to the user.
Additional Resources:
By Taylor Ritchey
Want to strengthen your Instagram account password? Check out our article on strong passwords for some tips!