It’s Time for an Ad Break

June 4, 2024

Hey there, dear reader! How are you feeling about Instagram ads these days? Do you love them? Hate them? Just shrug them off? Well, I’ve some news for you all. Instagram is testing something new: unskippable video ads. 😱😱

Yes, you read that right. Instagram is toying with the idea of video ads that you can’t skip. Much like YouTube’s ads, these Insta ads come with a timer, ticking away the seconds until you can get back to your scrolling. You can see an example here ⬇

🚨 NEW 🚨Instagram is testing ad breaks that are sometimes unskippable.

It's a new ad format that features a countdown to an ad while you’re browsing content.⏳

In some cases, the ad isn’t skippable and you’ll have to view it in order to continue browsing. pic.twitter.com/MCraf19DZT
— Lindsey Gamble (@LindseyGamble_) June 3, 2024

Now, let’s get real. One of my top pet peeves is ads with no skip button. Instagram says some of these ads might have to be watched entirely before you can keep browsing, which means interrupting your social media flow. Talk about a buzzkill!

Our feeds are already jam-packed with promoted posts and ads that are scarily accurate in targeting (and yes, I totally fall for them). But here’s the kicker: being forced to sit through ads takes all the fun out of discovering new brands. It’s like being trapped in a commercial.

No one likes being told what to do, especially in their chill time. Instagram is our digital playground—a place to unwind, watch fun videos, and get inspired by creativity. Forcing ads on us seems like a risky move. With people already fleeing to new apps because of Meta’s constant changes, the never-ending algorithm chase, and IG’s transformation into a marketplace, is this really a wise choice? Only time will tell.

So, what’s your take? Can you handle sitting through ad breaks? Do you think this idea will fly, or is it a complete turn-off?

If you enjoyed this blog and want to chat more about social media trends, don’t hesitate to give us a shout! Let’s keep the conversation going.😉

Latest Posts

Lurkers are your biggest audience and they’re deciding in silence. They watch in feeds, sanity-check you in comments, communities and reviews, then repeat whatever proof is easiest to quote internally. That’s why social feels harder, it’s no longer a click machine, it’s an answer surface. Ofcom shows AI summaries are now common in search results, and YouTube remains the UK’s biggest social utility by reach and time spent. If your story is inconsistent, your evidence is scattered, or your customer proof is buried, lurkers can’t do the job of trusting you for you.

Pinterest has rolled out a brand-new Media Planner inside its advertising tools, and it’s designed to make planning and managing Pin campaigns a whole lot simpler. In short? It gives you a clearer view of what you’re running, who you’re targeting, and what results you can expect…

Yep – it’s a 101 for finding out if your B2B social campaigns and content are delivering. Think you know it all? Think again. The sands of marketing are shifting…again. Aligning metrics and business objectives. Most B2B marketers can tell you the engagement rate. And they certainly know the level…