Reddit users can now hide ads with ease

Reddit has finally answered a long-standing request from users: the ability to hide ads. In an official announcement, the platform confirmed that users will now be able to remove unwanted ads from their feed — and the best part? Hiding one ad will automatically block future ads from the same advertiser for at least a year.

The new feature is rolling out gradually across iOS, Android, and the web version of Reddit. Users will see a “Hide” option in the dropdown menu when clicking on an ad, alongside options to “Report” or learn “About this ad.” Once an ad is hidden, it disappears from the feed immediately, and all ads from that advertiser’s account are blocked for a full year. If the same advertiser reappears after that period, users can hide them again.

Reddit also clarified that reporting an ad will not only send it for review (to determine if it violates Reddit’s policies) but will also function as a hide action, removing it and future ads from the advertiser.

This move aligns with Reddit’s previous efforts to provide more ad controls, such as last year’s sensitive ad filters, which allowed users to limit ads related to politics, religion, and other controversial topics. While it’s a welcome change, the move raises an important question: is Reddit really giving users more control, or is it simply offering a band-aid fix while ramping up its overall ad presence?

Reddit isn’t the only platform tweaking its ad experience. Recently, Spotify Premium users were left fuming after unexpected ads started popping up despite their paid subscriptions. The issue, which turned out to be a bug, required users to reapply ad-free settings manually. Similarly, some Amazon Echo Show users discovered “stealth ads” appearing as part of their device’s rotating content, blurring the line between recommendations and advertisements. And let’s not forget YouTube’s increasingly aggressive ad strategy, which had users up in arms over unskippable ads and intrusive mid-roll interruptions.

While Reddit’s new feature gives users some control, it remains to be seen how effective it will be in practice. For now, Reddit users can breathe a small sigh of relief, but as the battle between user experience and ad revenue continues, this might just be the beginning of a much larger conversation.

Let us know — do you think this feature is a game-changer, or just another way to make intrusive ads slightly less annoying?