Instagram has rolled out new ad formats that prevent users from skipping. Currently, users
are able to scroll or flick past an ad they don’t want to see, whether it is a post, story or reel.
However, the new feature called “ad break” will prohibit such skipping.

How will this impact Instagram’s user experience?

Being able to swipe or scroll past an ad has allowed users to experience a comfortable and
quick UX whilst on the app. The expectation is that these ‘ad breaks’ will appear with a timer,
which will count down to zero before users can continue with their journey. A similar system
is currently employed by YouTube with their non-skippable and 5-20-second ads.

Why is Instagram testing this?

An official press release from Meta has stated that viewers, may on occasion, must “view an
ad before you can keep browsing”. Meta further stated that the move was in part motivated
by a desire to find solutions in a constantly evolving and dynamic ecosystem.
However, increasing ad revenue and results for advertisers is likely the core concern here.
Meta is keen to test new ad formats which will generate greater rewards for brands.
Conversely, users have pushed back, claiming that the company is sacrificing UX for money,
with some even threatening to boycott the platform.
Is this a new concept?
Whilst non-skippable ads are a first for Meta, other competitors in the space have promoted
these formats before. As previously mentioned, YouTube has been pushing non-skippable
formats for years, as do many online publishers. Meanwhile, streaming services such as
Netflix offer a tiered payment system for customers, whereby cheaper subscriptions require
users to watch ads.

Whether this new trial will be a success is still unknown but a recent study from TikTok found
that 70% of viewers were more engaged with brands and ads if they weren’t forced to watch
their content.

Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, has introduced expanded parental controls across both platforms in a bid to make the online experience safer for teenagers. These new features are designed to give parents more visibility and control over their children’s social media activity, while also helping teens form healthier digital habits. Originally launched on Instagram, these tools are now being extended to Facebook and Messenger.

Stronger Controls for Safer Sharing

One of the most significant changes is that teens under the age of 16 will now need parental approval before they can go live or disable automatic filters that blur potentially explicit images in messages. This aims to reduce exposure to harmful or inappropriate content while giving parents a say in what their children can access or share. In addition, all teen accounts will continue to be set to private by default, meaning their content is only visible to approved followers, offering another layer of protection.

Helping Teens Manage Screen Time

Recognising the growing concern around screen addiction and its impact on mental health, Meta is introducing new features to encourage more mindful use of social media. Teens will now receive prompts to take breaks if they’ve been scrolling for extended periods, and notifications will be automatically muted during sleep hours. These features are designed not just to limit screen time, but to foster better habits around how and when young people engage with social platforms.

More Transparency for Parents

To support parental involvement, Meta has updated its supervision tools to allow caregivers to monitor who their teens follow and interact with and even set daily time limits for usage. These updates are part of a wider initiative by Meta to address mounting criticism over teen safety on its platforms. For marketers and business owners, it’s a clear signal that user wellbeing, especially among younger audiences, is becoming a critical part of platform design and brand trust.

Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram) is facing serious backlash in Europe over its plans to use users’ old posts and comments to train its artificial intelligence (AI) tools. A leading privacy group says this move may break EU data protection laws—and could cost Meta billions. At the heart of the debate is a simple but powerful question: Should companies be allowed to use your data without asking first?

What is GDPR and Why Does It Matter?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law that protects the privacy of everyone in the European Union. It gives people control over how companies use their personal data. Under GDPR, businesses must clearly explain what data they’re collecting and why—and in most cases, they must ask for your permission first.

Meta plans to use up to 20 years of Facebook and Instagram content, from all EU users, for AI training. But instead of asking people to opt in, they’re asking users to opt out, which puts the burden on the individual. Privacy experts say this is exactly the kind of thing GDPR was designed to stop.

The Legal Challenge

The privacy group noyb (short for “None of Your Business”) argues that Meta’s plan is illegal. They say Meta’s justification—that it has a “legitimate interest” in using the data—has already been rejected by European courts in similar cases about advertising.

Noyb has sent Meta a legal warning and is preparing for court action if the company doesn’t change course. They also suggest a class-action lawsuit could be launched, with potential damages of more than €200 billion.

Why This Matters to You

Even if you think you’ve got nothing to hide, GDPR is about your right to choose. Big tech companies shouldn’t be able to decide what happens to your data behind closed doors. This case is a reminder of how important data protection laws are in an AI-powered world—and how easily they can be challenged. AI Plans Are Stirring Up a Major Privacy Battle in Europe

YouTube is set to test out an AI Overview carousel for selected search queries on their site. This comes after Google rolled out AI Overviews on their search engine worldwide last year, causing a major shift in the way users interact with search.

What are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are rich snippets that appear at the top of a search engine, collated by AI, that give users a comprehensive response to their queries. This allows users to find answers to certain queries without having to visit websites and makes for a quicker experience on search. How this translates to YouTube will be in the form of video carousels that highlight relevant parts of selected videos to give users an answer to their search queries.

How will this affect YouTube Search?

YouTube AI Overviews are being designed to help users with different types of queries, including Travel and local discovery and product search and will initially be rolled out to a selected number of users in the US.

This news may not be overly positive for YouTube creators, however. Since AI Overviews were introduced on Google search in May last year, many users have seen a decline in traffic to their sites, especially sites answering informational queries, as users are reading AI Overviews and not clicking through to the relevant articles.

If users begin to use the AI Overviews on YouTube, this could see a decline in traffic to YouTube channels and negatively impact viewing figures, just as we have seen with the decline in web traffic on Google. Also, if the AI Overviews are successful, we are likely to see them expand out to other queries, which mirror the current state of Google, where AI Overviews are expanding into different types of queries every month, growing in influence.

When to expect changes

This is currently only an experiment with AI Overviews on YouTube and by no means will it definitively roll out to an expanded audience but if it does it could drastically change how users interact with content on YouTube even perhaps enhancing viewing figures for some smaller users who manage to create relevant and engaging clips that make their way into the AI Overviews.

YouTube is experimenting with a new AI feature in its search results – and it could
change how people discover video content on the platform.
The new test, called AI Overviews, shows a scrollable carousel of video highlights
when users search for certain topics. Instead of just listing full videos, YouTube’s AI
picks out and displays what it thinks are the most helpful clips from relevant videos.

Why this matters for marketers and creators

This might sound helpful for viewers but for brands and creators, it could go either
way. On one hand, it might improve content discovery and get your videos in front of
new audiences. On the other, it could reduce clicks and watch time if people only
watch the AI-generated clip instead of the full video.
We’ve already seen how Google’s AI Overviews in search can reduce traffic to
websites. If YouTube rolls out this AI feature more widely, creators might see a
similar dip in views.

What we know so far

 Only a small group of users can see it right now – specifically, some
YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S.
 It’s focused on specific types of searches, like product reviews or travel
recommendations. Think: “best wireless earbuds” or “things to do in San
Francisco.”
 YouTube is gathering feedback on the test – users can give a thumbs up or
down on what the AI recommends. This will help decide whether the feature is
rolled out more broadly.

What’s next?

YouTube runs tests like this all the time to see what helps people find and enjoy
content more easily. If you’re seeing something new on your YouTube account that
others aren’t – chances are, you’re part of a test group.
It’s worth keeping an eye on this one. If AI Overviews become a standard feature,
marketers and creators may need to think differently about how their videos are
structured – especially if only the most “useful” parts are being shown.

What’s Instagram SEO?

Like traditional SEO, Instagram SEO focuses on optimising your content in order for it to be easier to discover. Optimisation ensures that content is positioned to an audience without having to invest money in ad campaigns. 

How does Instagram SEO work?

Instagram will display the searched for content depending on a few elements of the content:

• The captions
• Using hashtags
• Profile bios

What factors are considered for the algorithm?

Instagram’s algorithm works in various ways for each area of its app, i.e., reels, the main feed, and the explore page. It factors in context from the search term, the searcher’s profile, and then considers all the content out there to provide an accurate response. 

Instagram’s algorithm utilises the keywords from users’ search terms to provide profiles and posts that are relevant to the search. Instagram looks to marry the search term to existing content containing hashtags, locations, captions, and profile bios. So it works in a very similar way to that of search engines like Google.

The algorithm will prioritise displaying content that is successful. So, content that has successfully garnered clicks, likes, saves, follows, shares, and comments will also be a factor in whether it is displayed to people.

Instagram’s algorithm will factor in context for display results, so things like the kind of content the user interacts with, or the people the searcher follows. This will allow Instagram to provide more tailored results.

Does my business need to do Instagram SEO?

Instagram SEO gives businesses an opportunity to get more from their social content, increasing the probability for newer audiences to see their content.

Having an awareness and appreciation for the impact of Instagram SEO can inform how content is created. When content is properly optimised, it increases the probability of the content seeing success, as well as an increased chance of expanding your audience. 

How to optimise your Instagram content?

Account optimisations – bio, name, captions, link trees

Optimising your Instagram is essential, and there’s no better place to begin the process than on your profile. Optimising your profile is actually quite simple, just follow these simple steps:

1. Make sure your username is aligned with your brand, ensuring you’re easy to find online. Use your business’s name, if it’s taken, consider adding the year of establishment to the end of the handle.
2. Make sure your business’s location is attached to the page; Instagram will then be able to factor this in when displaying geo-relevant content. This applies to both your profile and the posts you share.
3. Your bio should utilise the keywords that summarise your business and what it offers in terms of products or services. Clear sign posting will ensure you’re connected to the right potential audience sooner.

Geo-tagging //Location-based Optimisation

Tagging your location in posts can be just as important as including this information on your profile. Location tagging, like with hashtags, can be a great way to ‘tag’ content, which then groups that particular content with anything else that tags that location. 

Caption optimisation (including hashtags) – Implementing your keywords

Hashtags can serve as a really useful tool. They can be used as a tagging tool that can differentiate your content from others. So instead of using your keywords as a hashtag, create a quality caption utilising keywords.

Then use the hashtags as additional qualifiers, so tag the location or maybe a niche that the content pertains to. For instance, if a photographer shares a photo of a bird, instead of tagging #bird, they would be better typing #50mmbirdphotgraphy – This provides the search engine with a little bit more information, and it diversifies the hashtag enough that your content wont be lost in a sea of content using the same generic hashtag.

Include alt text – making content accessible – including captions on video content and descriptive captions.

Alt text is different from the caption, it’s an accessibility feature that allows a brand to describe what is featured in the content. This allows those with impairments to still access social content. This is critical, not only to improve your general strategy but to demonstrate your brand’s ability to deal with accessibility challenges. Alike alt text, captions allow those with auditory impairments to still access and enjoy content alike their peers without accessibility hurdles.

To add alt text, you’ll need to create a new post > press more options at the bottom of the controls panel > scroll to the bottom of the more options page to find the alt text feature.

Scheduling – knowing the optimal posting times

Another facet of Instagram optimisation is to perfect your scheduling. Pinpointing your audience’s most responsive periods will increase the likelihood of driving engagement and traffic.

Instagram helps businesses figure this out in its insights dashboard. Simply navigate to > Settings and activity > Under the for professionals section, you’ll see ‘Insights’, click on this > The navigate to new followers and tap again > Swipe down and you’ll be able to see when your followers utilise Instagram.

Using Instagram’s collaborative tool for influencer campaigns and collaborations

Utilise the features Instagram provides to make the most of your content. Particularly the collaborative feature, which, like link building in traditional SEO, can help provide authority by sharing content across 2 accounts.

This works particularly well when collaborating with influencers or brands that have an established audience that intersects with your existing one. It positions your brand to many more people, whilst still placing it in front of relevant members.

Optimising for Instagram helps you to create a strategy that focuses on a symbiotic relationship between the different aspects of your marketing strategy, ensuring the goals for your website are being supported by the output of content on your social channels. It helps you to direct your traffic to the product, service, or content that you’re trying to push!

Why is Meta So Important?

Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, are some of the most widely used social media platforms in the world. Billions of people use them daily to stay connected with friends, share updates, and discover new content. For businesses, these platforms are a key part of their marketing strategies, allowing them to reach the right audience through targeted advertising. Most of Meta’s revenue—over 96%—comes from ads, making them essential to keeping these platforms free for users.

The Idea of a Paid, Ad-Free Experience

Meta is exploring the idea of offering a paid subscription in the UK that would allow users to browse Facebook and Instagram without seeing ads. The move follows the company’s introduction of a similar service in the EU, where users can opt for an ad-free experience starting from €5.99 (£5) per month. The subscription would be aimed at people who do not want their data to be tracked for targeted advertising.

Meta has said it is working with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to ensure the plan aligns with data protection laws. Regulators have expressed concerns that users should have a genuine choice—either agreeing to data tracking for personalised ads or paying for an ad-free experience.

Would People Pay for an Ad-Free Experience?

Social media experts believe that most users are unlikely to subscribe. When Meta launched its ad-free option in the EU in October 2023, uptake was reportedly low. Many people are used to free social media and would rather continue using the platforms with ads than pay a monthly fee.

For Meta, introducing an ad-free option may be less about making money from subscriptions and more about preparing for future regulations that could restrict data collection for targeted advertising. As privacy laws tighten, offering a paid alternative allows Meta to continue operating within legal requirements while still relying on its primary source of revenue—advertising.

Ultimately, most people will decide whether they value privacy enough to pay for it or whether they are happy to keep using social media for free with ads.

Social media platforms are not just for personal use, brands and businesses now utilise platforms to create an online presence. An online presence can be integral to the overall marketing approach you take. A social channel needs to perform for your business, whether it’s to communicate, sell a product or both of the aforementioned.

How to figure out what social media platforms to use?

Deciding what social media platforms are suited to your business is a combination of two considerations: the audience and the potential for expansion or migration from one platform to another.

Understanding your audience, it’s important to have a full sense of the audience you have. Having a grasp on who it is you’re creating content, product and services for will help you navigate what platforms are best suited to your business.

For instance, an education provider may utilise platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook or X to make announcements. Whilst a beautician’s parlour may opt for platforms such as Instagram or TikTok.

Social media migration, although rare, has happened over the last two decades at least twice of major note, the first being from Vine to TikTok and the second being from X to Threads. Being prepared by creating dormant accounts which utilise the username synonymous to your brand, ensure if a migration happens your business will already own the username preventing the need for financial intervention or rebranding.

Expansion of a platform, some platforms can take a while to establish a significant user base, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth creating an account for, in fact, it has been proven that it can provide a strategic advantage and competitive edge. Take Musically (Now TikTok), accounts which had created when TikTok began to thrive as a platform, have now been able to establish authority and build their audience.

How can social media help with creating success for a business?

Establishing an online presence can help a business achieve many things, some of these benefits include:

Building a relationship with the audience – creating social media profiles can help a business connect with the customer, allowing a rapport to be established and trust to be built.

Ease of communication – social media provides the unique advantage of being able to reach audiences very quickly, making it a brilliant communication tool.

Representing a brand – social media can be a great way to show brand identity and demonstrate the personality of a business.

An opportunity to market products and services – Advertising services or products is made simpler, whether it’s utilising advertising tools for businesses or positioning products more naturally to customers.

Increasing reach – having an online presence can increase the reach of your brand, it can help position you to a wider audience, creating potential for more success within the business.

Taking the next step

The next step in getting your business’s social media profiles set up is considering the handles you want to use. We recommend keeping it simple and sticking to your business name

If your business name is already taken as a handle, then consider putting the year of establishment on the end or utilising an underscore to separate parts of the username.

Make sure it’s easy for your audience to recognise your business, utilising brand logos for profile images, and utilising the bio to place links to your website. On some platforms, should you want to, you can add in a physical business address. Making it simple for potential customers to navigate to your online space or physical business address.

Instagram users recently reported seeing a surge of graphic and violent content appearing in their Reels feed, despite having set their privacy settings to filter such material. Meta has since addressed the issue, apologising and implementing a fix to prevent similar problems in the future.

Meta Apologizes for Content Moderation Error

Meta has apologised after Instagram users reported a surge of violent and graphic content appearing in their Reels feed. The company acknowledged the issue, explaining that a recent error caused inappropriate content to be recommended to users, even when they had set their “Sensitive Content Control” to its highest setting. Meta has since fixed the problem and promised to enhance its content moderation efforts.

Graphic Content Despite Privacy Settings

Privacy and content moderation are critical to Meta’s approach, as the company aims to protect users from harmful material while allowing freedom of expression. Meta’s guidelines focus on removing graphic content, particularly videos showing harm to people or animals. However, some sensitive content is still allowed if it raises awareness about significant issues like human rights violations or conflicts, with appropriate warnings for viewers. Ensuring privacy helps users feel safe while using the platform, minimizing exposure to distressing material.

Meta’s New Content Moderation Approach

This incident follows recent changes to Meta’s content moderation policies. The company has announced a shift towards focusing more on high-severity violations, such as terrorism or child exploitation while leaving less severe content up to user reports. Meta’s new approach aims to reduce over-moderation and give users more control over what they see. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also introduced plans to allow more political content and change the third-party fact-checking system to a new model called “Community Notes.” These changes are part of an effort to promote free expression while still keeping harmful content off the platform.

On Friday, the 12th, Intelligency had the pleasure of welcoming a specialist trainer into the office for an in-depth session on producing high-quality content for social media. The training provided hands-on experience, covering everything from selecting the right equipment to understanding the technical aspects that can make or break content quality.

In today’s digital landscape, staying ahead of trends and mastering the art of content creation is essential. At Intelligency, we continuously seek opportunities to expand our knowledge and refine our skills, ensuring that both our in-house and client projects benefit from the best practices in social media marketing. This session was another step towards that goal—helping us to better understand the nuances of video and photo production to create compelling, high-impact content.

Key learnings

Whilst I won’t give away all of the secrets shared by the expert trainer Cameron, I can say that the session reinforced and enhanced my understanding of several crucial elements of content creation, including:

• Content planning
• Kit selection (specifically tailored to the business’s needs)
• Familiarisation with kit
• Learning about camera settings
• The shooting process
• The editing process

Here are 5 new things I took away from the course:

📸 Understanding resolution and compression – Social platforms like Instagram are unable to process high-resolution content, i.e. videos shot in 4K. As a result, content can be compressed, lessening the overall quality of the content.

📸 Balancing settings -Shutter speed, aperture and ISO all interplay with each other. There is no one-size-fits-all with photography and videography; it’s about achieving the balance between each setting to capture the desired shot.  

📸 The Power of the First 3 Seconds – The first 3 seconds of video content are critical to hooking the viewer, so make every second count. Aim to grab the viewers’ attention and keep them invested in order for them to stick around for the content that follows those first few seconds.

📸The media quality toggle – Instagram, one of many apps, allows you to upload higher-quality content by utilising its media quality toggle. This will tell Instagram to upload the content at its highest resolution, rather than automatically compressing it.

📸Lense correction in editing – Lens correction ensures that regardless of what make and model of the camera a video or image is shot on, the quality will remain consistent despite what lens it has been captured with.  This is because each lens will have its own unique distortions, which can create inconsistencies if shooting across multiple cameras.

Why third-party training is invaluable

At Intelligency, we firmly believe that ongoing education and professional development are key to staying ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Investing in expert-led training isn’t just about refining our technical skills—it’s about ensuring our team has the knowledge and confidence to deliver exceptional work for our clients.

“Bringing in external experts allows us to gain fresh perspectives, access the latest industry insights, and refine our approach with cutting-edge techniques. Not only does this enhance the quality of our work, but it also supports the career growth of our team. We want our staff to feel empowered, upskilled, and equipped to take on new challenges—because when they grow, so does our business.”

– Sean Walsh, Director, Intelligency

By learning from specialists in their field, we are able to integrate best practices into our strategies, ensuring that our content remains engaging, impactful, and ahead of the curve. This commitment to continuous learning benefits not only our internal team but also the clients we work with, as we bring a more informed and innovative approach to every project.

If you’re looking to refine your approach to content creation, investing in professional training can be a game-changer. Have you ever attended a similar session?