Instagram Makes a Significant Update that isn't Very Well Received

It's already awful to see advertisements on your social media feed, but Instagram users may soon have an even worse experience. It has been verified by Meta that it is now developing a service that inserts unskippable advertisements into Instagram users' feeds.

Like on YouTube, these advertisements show a countdown when they are seen and restrict the viewer from scrolling past until the entire duration has passed.

Over the weekend, one user noticed the feature—which Instagram refers to as a "ad break"—and termed the adjustment "bonkers."

Additionally, a lot of enraged Instagram users have already threatened to stop using the app entirely if the change sticks. Unskippable ad breaks have been seen by several Instagram users in their news feed. 

Users claim that the advertisements block scrolling for up to 10 seconds at such time.  'You're experiencing an ad break,' says Instagram when you click on the information button in the advertisement.

"Ad breaks are a new way to see ads on Instagram," the statement says. You might occasionally have to watch an advertisement in order to continue surfing.

Now that it has been verified, Meta is testing a new ad format that seems to be impacting a limited number of users.

"We're always testing formats that can drive value for advertisers," a Meta representative said to MailOnline. If there are any official product modifications as a consequence of this test, we will notify you as we test and learn.

Although not all users may experience the change, according to Meta's announcement, the test has already caused controversy. 'They had to realize it's an app killer,' a poster on the previous Twitter platform X commented.

One person commented that they would "get off Instagram notifications" during the commercial breaks, while another person questioned, "So they want to ruin the app?"

Indignated Instagram users have gone so far as to threaten to permanently quit the social media network in the event that unskippable advertisements proliferate.

One person said, "I swear, if this becomes real, I'm deleting my account," while another said, "I will delete the app."

Introducing Instagram's unskippable ad breaks? wrote another. An app that influencers have already turned into one big advertisement for? We just won't be scrolling.

Should the modification become permanent, Instagram would resemble YouTube's free edition, which displays continuous advertisements throughout user-generated content.

Unlike YouTube, most Instagram users do not now have the option to pay to have advertisements removed from their experience.

In the EU, customers have the option to pay €9.99 (£8.51) per month to have advertisements from Meta goods removed.

A lot of people on social media hypothesized that the unskippable advertisements would be a sign of a premium ad-free tier being rolled out more widely, a la YouTube, Disney+, and Netflix.

"I smell meta "ad free" subscriptions coming," a commenter on X said. 

One person wrote: "In reality, it's a means to establish a more costly ad tier."

"It's not a bad attempt to spin it to make Meta appear concerned for us."