Meta social media platform Instagram’s latest change, "unskippable" Ad Breaks, may frustrate users and creators away from the platform.
The product, still in its testing phase, requires users to view boosted content with a 3-5 second countdown before they can continue scrolling. Previously they had been able to flick past.
Instagram has been upping its advertising streams in reaction to a weak advertising market, Apple’s enhanced privacy features, which hinders third-party apps to track users, and amid the rising popularity of competitor TikTok.
Earlier this year Instagram introduced skippable ads after viewing every three Stories and posts in the Search tab and on profiles - but this ad product may have gone too far.
Hunter Talent CEO Adam Jacobs said while guaranteed ad views can be beneficial, the disruptive nature may foster frustration, potentially reflecting poorly on the talent featured in these ads.
“For some creators, Instagram is their main source of income so promoting products or services to their following is not new,” Jacobs said.
“On the other hand, the unskippable ads could significantly boost the visibility of talent, particularly actors and musicians, ensuring their presence is noted by a captive audience.
“For better or worse, this new ad format could lead to a strategic shift, with brands investing more heavily in Instagram, positively impacting certain sectors of the talent industry.
“The impact on user engagement metrics will be crucial, as we navigate how these interruptions affect overall social media strategies for talent and business.”
A study from TikTok suggests that forcing viewers to watch adverts might lead to less engagement - with more than 70% of participants saying they were more likely to engage with the experience of an advert if there was an option to skip it.
In a poll by Android Authority, of over 530 votes 87% said they would use Instagram less due to the new Ad Breaks.
However, Instagram also recently announced they are going to prioritise more organic content, so this might be an attempt to counterbalance delivering less commercial content but also increasing price, says Social Soup CEO Sharyn Smith.
“The real impact for creators will be if less people engage with Instagram as a result of these ‘unskippable ads’, and their audiences could be reduced,” Smith told AdNews.
“Creators are excellent at making content that people want to watch as opposed to being forced to watch; they are the ones who are able to effectively deliver commercial messages. I’m sure that creators don’t want their content alongside unskippable ads.”
Similarly, Fabulate co-founder and chief revenue officer Ben Gunn said creator content will always outperform brand ad content across all key metrics - view time, engagement and response rate.
"This change would only impact boosted content,” Gunn said.
“Organic branded content won't be impacted, and our view is always to include an element of boosting on all creator activity to maximise the reach and to further pinpoint your target audience."
However there is concern the feature will favour large business.
“My concern is these unskippable ads will favour businesses with a large market share and potentially impact smaller creators and businesses that don’t have the budget to compete,” Jacobs said.
In contrast, Gunn believes smaller creators won’t be proportionately impacted.
"Great content will always find an audience if it's engaging and positioned correctly,” Gunn said.
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