Meta is testing a new ad in the Instagram feed that you can’t scroll past

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Meta is testing a new ad in the

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feed that you can’t scroll past

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ads may soon be much ******* to ignore. As TechCrunch , Meta is testing a new type of non-skippable ad in the

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feed, which the company is calling an “ad break.”

With the new ads, which have already been spotted by some users, you can’t scroll past the feed ad until the”ad break” finishes. According to screenshots shared on

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, it appears that the “breaks” are a few seconds long, though it’s not clear if the length could change should Meta decide to make the new format official. “Ad breaks are a new way of seeing ads on

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,” an in-app message states. “Sometimes you may need to view an ad before you can keep browsing.”

Holy moly! Meta seemingly is now forcing us to watch ads in our feeds on

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!

The app legit stopped me from scrolling past this ad which is just a bonkers move to me.

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— Dan Levy

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While non-skippable video ads are common on other platforms, like

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, it’s a new and much more aggressive format for

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. It’s also notable that the company is experimenting with the ads in its main feed rather than in Reels or Stories, where video ads are more common (but for now still skippable).

Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company confirmed to TechCrunch that it was testing the new ad format. “As we test and learn, we will provide updates should this test result in any formal product changes,” a Meta spokesperson said.