Ads have become ubiquitous on social media these days. You have most likely seen ads in your Instagram feed that look like regular photo and video posts, but also carry a ‘Sponsored’ tag.
These ads can become too intrusive and unwanted. With millions of advertisers vying for the attention of billions of Instagram users, it seems impossible to get away from ads. While it is true that it won’t be possible to completely eliminate ads from your Instagram feed, there are certain workarounds you can follow.
In this article, we will go over how to get rid of ads on Instagram as much as possible.
How to Get Rid of Ads on Instagram Using Ad Blockers
The first thing you should know about getting rid of ads on Instagram is that you can only block them when using Instagram in a browser. There is no way to block ads within the Instagram app itself.
If you want to enjoy an ad-free experience on Instagram, you will have to go to Instagram’s website in a web browser. Follow these steps to get rid of unwanted IG ads:
- Head to your browser’s extension store, such as Chrome’s Web Store.
- Search for ad blocker extensions and select your preferred extension
- Add the ad blocking extension to your browser
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete setting up the ad blocker extension
- Head to Instagram’s website and log into your account
Once you log into your IG account while you have an ad locking extension installed, you will get to enjoy an ad-free Instagramming experience, as long as you are on the Instagram website in your web browser.
Note: While many of the ads on Instagram can be blocked by the leading ad blockers, such as the ads that run between Stories, not all ads can be blocked.
Reasons to Block Ads on Instagram
There are several reasons why you may want to block ads on Instagram. Here are the few of the most common reasons users give for why they want to do away with IG ads:
- When Sponsored Posts are included in user feeds and Story sequences, they slow down the Instagram experience, which results in users missing posts from their favorite followed accounts most often.
- Ads become distracting and annoying, especially when they are unappealing and too frequent.
- There are simply too many ads, with seemingly more appearing as time goes on.
- Even with Instagram’s advanced AI-driven algorithm, targeted ads are sometimes, or often, irrelevant to users who see them.
How to Get Rid of Ads on Instagram – Alternative Methods
Besides using Instagram’s website in a browser while you have an ad blocking browser extension installed, there are a few other ways to prevent ads.
Try out the following alternative methods to reduce how many ads you see on Instagram, and especially if you want to prevent ads from showing in the Instagram app.
Hide Ads
Instagram provides the option to hide an ad if you no longer wish to see it. To do this, do the following:
- From your Instagram feed while viewing a Sponsored Post, tap on the three dots located at the top-right of the content
- Tap on Hide ad
- Choose the reason for you wanting to hide the ad
Report Ads
Reporting an ad should prevent it from being inserted into your IG feed ever again. Here is how you can report an ad:
- Find the ad in your IG feed you wish to report
- Tap the three dots in the post’s top-right corner
- Tap on Report ad
Note: You should generally use this method if you have a more serious reason as to why you no longer wish to see the Sponsored Post.
Block Brand Accounts
If all else fails, you can simply block the accounts of the brands displaying ads in your feed. Here is what you need to do to stop seeing ads from specific brand accounts:
- Find the Sponsored Post in your feed you would like to no longer see
- Tap on the account name to head over to its profile
- Tap on the three dots in the top-right corner
- Tap on Block
Once you have done this, you will no longer see any of the posts from that specific brand account, including Sponsored Posts.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to get rid of ads on Instagram, you can enjoy a more uninterrupted IG experience. Although it is impossible to completely block all Instagram ads, there are a few different methods you can try out that will reduce the intrusive ads in your feed and Stories.
