Instagram is testing a YouTube-like feature.
The social media platform currently allows users to swipe or scroll past adverts that appear in its main feed of images and videos, as well as in its stories and reels feeds.
If launched, users would be required to watch ads before viewing stories or downloading reels. The change would see the social network becoming more like the free version of YouTube, which requires users to view ads before and in the middle of watching videos.
Instagram declined to say where in the Instagram app the ad breaks show and whether the company was testing the feature globally. Screenshots, however, show the ad breaks appearing in the app’s feed while watching video posts.
It’s not clear at this time if Instagram creators will have any control over these ads’ appearance. For now, the feature is just a test, but it demonstrates to what extent Meta is willing to experiment with the app’s core user experience in favor of increased ad revenues.
Source: Tech Crunch