How do I change my ad settings on Instagram?

Did you know that you can see exactly what Instagram thinks you're interested in by viewing your ad interests? That's right, in the name of transparency, you can see all the topics Instagram will use to tailor your adverts right in your settings.

More importantly, you can tell Instagram what you want and don't want to see. Want to know how? Read on to learn how to find and fine-tune your Instagram ad interests.

Instagram ad interests are the categories that advertisers can use to feed you adverts. When a brand or business creates an ad campaign, they can select the kinds of people they want their adverts shown to. If your ad interests match their chosen categories, you'll see their ads on your feed.

Instagram creates your ad interest list using data harvested from your Instagram activity—that's how they get them so specific. Every time you search, like, comment, or interact with something on Instagram, the platform uses that data to build a profile of your interests. While this is advertiser heaven, it's also kind of invasive, and it's scary how much information Instagram knows about if you take the time to look into it.

For this exact reason, many people do all they can to stop social media from serving overly personal ads, but it's impossible to stop them altogether.

If you're eager to see what Instagram thinks you're most interested in and the categories it uses to show you advertisements, then you can find your ad interest list in the Instagram settings. Follow these simple instructions to find your ad interests.

1. Open Instagram on your phone and tap on your profile picture to go to your profile.
2. Next, tap the menu icon and select Settings.
3. Head down to the Ads section to find where Instagram stores your ad data.
4. Open Ad Interests to view your list.

Is it what you expected? Don't be alarmed if it isn't. Keep reading, and we'll explain.

While viewing your ad interests, you'll notice that some categories are a bit strange, maybe you opened up a post sent to you by a friend, or you ended up down an Instagram rabbit hole and onto the weird part of the internet. While you can't make any major changes to your ad interest list, you can influence or fine-tune it by choosing "See less" for any given ad topic. Below, we'll teach you how to do just that.

1. Open Ad topics on the same settings page.
2. Open an ad topic or tap Show all to see the expanded list. You can also search for topics if you have a particular one in mind.
3. Choose between the No preference and See less options.

If you select the latter setting (See less), advertisers will no longer be able to target you based on that specific topic. This will usually limit the number of ads you see for that particular category. If you select "No Preference" instead, then Instagram can still serve you ads on the topic if they choose. There isn't a "See more" option for those wondering, but who wants to see more ads, anyway?

Social media platforms make their money from advertising, so while editing your ad topics may help to tailor your ad experience, it isn't going to stop you from seeing adverts altogether.

Tailor the Instagram Ads You Have to Live With

Unless Instagram brings in a premium ad-free tier, adverts are here to stay. If you have to suffer through ads in your feed, you may as well tailor them to your liking, right?

So, play around with your ad settings and see if you can influence the ads that Instagram feeds you. Make sure you only come across ads that are relevant to you.