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Ads between Instagram Stories are about to get more annoying

Ads between Instagram Stories are about to get more annoying

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Instagram is giving advertisers more leeway and creativity for the spots that run between the Stories you’re actually interested in. Today the company announced that ads will now be able to “publish up to three pieces of content.” (That means multiple segments to tap through, similar to when a friend has updated their story three times in a day.)

Previously those interstitial ads were limited to a single photo or video each, which made for a fairly minor interruption when watching content from the people you follow. But soon you’ll find yourself having to tap through multi-part Stories from brands. There’s still the option of swiping sideways to skip the remaining “pieces” a bit faster, as well.

The benefits for advertisers are pretty obvious: Instagram says this gives them more freedom to use sequential storytelling and mix photo and video content in a single Stories ad spot. Hopefully this change won’t bog down the flow of moving between the content posted by your friends. Instagram says the first companies launching these new ads include Gap, California Pizza Kitchen, and Paramount.