How to Customize the Ads You See on Instagram
On my Instagram feed, I see a lot of targeted ads for face masks and other anti-aging skin care products – and I admit I regularly buy both.
However, from time to time I see ads that just don’t make sense. I will see advertisements for serving sets that I will never use, advertisements for machine washable women’s shoes, and advertisements for dog food, even though I don’t have a dog.
How did it come about? Well, according to Instagram’s FAQ page, the app pulls in tons of data from both your Facebook and Instagram accounts; this includes what you’ve ever liked, the people you follow and the interests you have listed, but it also pulls information from third-party sites and apps that you have given permission to link to your social accounts networks (think of any app you’ve ever connected to your Facebook account, like Spotify or Yelp).
If you want to know exactly what data and advertising preferences Instagram uses to target you, How To Geek has put together a guide; You should first visit the Instagram Access Tool website (for which you may need to be signed in).
From here select the “Privacy & Security” tab. At the very bottom of the page, in the Ads section, select Advertising Interests. Here you can find data on how Instagram is targeting ads to you. (You can also find this in the Access Data section of the Privacy & Security settings on any mobile device.)
My obvious interests include animal rescue, chocolate and homosexuality! This is in addition to things that I’m sure I never looked for, including Kozhikode (a city in India), rowing and flour.
You can also view their “advertising activity” in his Instagram – here you will find any kind of advertising, which you have ever “interacted”. Interaction is not clearly defined, but based on my own activity, it seems to mean any ad you’ve ever liked or taken to her profile page. In the Instagram settings on your smartphone, select “Advertising” and you will find it here.
Although we may never know exactly how these factors together form the targeted advertising on your feed, after the report Buzzfeed News on this week we can say with certainty that much of this is probably a result of third-party access to your data.
And if you are tired of seeing ads, like I am, luckily you can change your ad preferences, which will inform you about what will appear in your feed. One way to stop seeing certain ads is to click on the three-dot icon next to Instagram and select “Hide Ads”.
However, if you don’t want to waste your time reporting on each ad, it’s easier to make changes on Facebook . In the “Advertising Settings” section, you can prevent third-party websites from using your data, as well as block access to Facebook products.
The difference, according to Facebook, is that if you deny permissions to partners, you will only see ads based on the information you have provided on Facebook, its partners (such as WhatsApp), its products (such as Instagram) and specific businesses. that you communicated with. If you deny permission to Facebook or its products in general, you will see ads, but they “won’t matter to you.”
Here’s the thing: According to Instagram, you’ll still see the same amount of ads anyway, but if you’re particularly concerned about your privacy, both are good steps to take, or if the ads you see are completely irrelevant. … in line with your interests, denying permission to third parties will help at least improve your Instagram experience.