Instagram’s CEO recently said that the app actually does not listen to your conversations despite the conspiracy theory that the ads we see pop up on IG is due to the fact that Instagram may be listening in on our conversations.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said the ads that seem to suddenly pop up after you talk about the products in real life is mostly just “dumb luck”. He stated that he gets this question a lot and gave two reasons for these suspicious ads.
“One is dumb luck, which can happen. The second is you might be talking about something because it’s top of mind because you’ve been interacting with that type of content more recently. It’s top of mind, maybe it’s subconscious and then it bubbles up later. I think this kind of thing happens often in a way that’s really subtle,” Mosseri said.

While Instagram may not be listening in on your private conversations to send you targeted advertisements or have the right to, the social media app does have the ability based on the permissions we give it to track our interactions and interests. Ads are then generated based on people you follow and photos or videos you have liked or commented on.