Instagram ads
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 7 advertising platforms by recommenders
Recommended for well-targeted ads that produced bookings and leads; some advertisers report account blocks and campaigns that did not work.
Recommended for well-targeted ads that produced bookings and leads; some advertisers report account blocks and campaigns that did not work.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Seen as best online advertising
“the only useful places to advertise online these days are LinkedIn and Instagram”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” “they accomplish their goal better than any other ads I've ever seen”
Comment from 3 Jul 2026 in “Zuckerberg 'Admits' Meta's Layoffs Were Ineffective” “That's advertising done right!”
Comment from 13 Apr 2026 in “They See Your Photos” - Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 – Show and tell”
- Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “uBlock Origin Is Giving Up the Fight to Keep Ads Off Facebook”
Well-targeted to users' interests
“Until last year I used Instagram and most of the ads I got were actually relevant. Zero scams, mostly local businesses.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” “have had some success with very micro targeted Instagram ads”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 on Hacker News “Instagram ads are exceptionally well tuned to my interest”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Tell HN: I never bought anything from clicking on a paid ad” - Comment from 19 Jan 2026 in “The A in AGI Stands for Ads”
Campaigns produced leads and bookings
“The result: 4 paid bookings in 48 hours - all confirmed leads from the new Instagram ad campaign.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “Our new Instagram campaign just bore fruit in the first hour”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “The results of above mentioned advertising have been great.”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “Google officially announces that ads will be included in AI Mode search results”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ads seen as ineffective or generic
“Basically none of the explicit advertisement worked at all and it wasn't worth the money.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “We collected 10k hours of neuro-language data in our basement” “Instagram ads are no different to the WURGLBIXY and HUYTVING and XORMLINAP”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Meta made scam ads harder to find instead of removing them”
Other advertising platforms people recommend
The four most recommended other advertising platforms, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | 25 | 144 | 15% | 11 | 16 yrs10 owners | — |
| Meta Ads | 14 | 28 | 33% | 6 | — | — |
| Instagram adsThis page | 12 | 4 | 75% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Google AdSense | 11 | 47 | 19% | 6 | 20 yrs6 owners | — |
| Facebook Ads | 7 | 23 | 23% | 5 | 10 yrs3 owners | — |
What people said
16 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Until last year I used Instagram and most of the ads I got were actually relevant. Zero scams, mostly local businesses.”
“the only useful places to advertise online these days are LinkedIn and Instagram”
“Instagram ads are so good”
“they accomplish their goal better than any other ads I've ever seen”
“Instagram ads are exceptionally well tuned to my interest”
“The results of above mentioned advertising have been great.”
“That's advertising done right!”
“Online advertising is now ubiquitous, terrible, and mandatory for anyone who wants to do e-commerce.”
“IG ads seem to know my tastes exactly”
“Instagram ads are no different to the WURGLBIXY and HUYTVING and XORMLINAP”
“The result: 4 paid bookings in 48 hours - all confirmed leads from the new Instagram ad campaign.”
“Our new Instagram campaign just bore fruit in the first hour”
“have had some success with very micro targeted Instagram ads”
“IG ads which worked well too”
“Basically none of the explicit advertisement worked at all and it wasn't worth the money.”
“legitimate businesses who struggle to run Instagram ads due to unexplained blocks or payment gateway issues”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.