[Pigalowda]

Aren’t those recommended posts from your instagram feed?

Hovering over those and examining and studying them in anger/fear/horror is still engaging with the ad. Won’t the algo serve more similar content if you are spending time looking at it?

[hnthrow_asdf]

Like I explained with the initial post, 99% of the time I try to avoid exactly that - averting my eyes, scrolling and using peripheral vision to see when the ad's gone. Not taking screenshots or pausing because that's engagement. I've tried both tactics of pausing to click "Hide ad - irrelevant", or just scrolling past as fast as possible.

I did, twice apparently, stop and take screenshots because my therapist wanted proof. If I get an ad for pistachios or moisturizer these days I do the opposite - pause, click the ad.