While Instacart offers a few different advertising options, the only currently self-serve option is "Sponsored Product" ads. Sponsored products can appear in a number of different locations across the platform and are easily distinguishable by the "Sponsored" banner attached to them.

There are two main classifications for where ads can appear on Instacart: "Search" and "Non-Search".

Sponsored ads appear both before and throughout organic listings when a specific item is searched on Instacart using keywords.

Search ad placements are determined solely by exact match keyword bidding meaning advertisers can customize bids for each individual search term. The higher a bid is on any particular keyword, the greater chance your brand has at serving an ad closer to the top of the search page.

Whenever a customer is browsing products without directly searching for a term in the search bar, they can be exposed to non-search ads.

There are five main placements that "non-search" (browse) ads will appear on Instacart.

1. Department / Aisles: Ads appear while customers browse generic product categories as "Picked For You".

2. Item Details: Ads appear below the item details page for a similar or related product.

3. Buy It Again: An ad for a previously purchased item may appear in the "Buy It Again" page. Instacart estimates that by a customer's 10th order on the platform, around 25% conversions come from this section alone.

4. Home page: Very similar to the Aisle / Department location, sponsored ads will appear among organic results on a retailer's home page as "You may like".

5. Post-Checkout: Sponsored ads can also appear post-checkout as "last minute additions" to your cart. These items are suggested based on previously purchased items or can include products related to the items in your current basket.

Instacart does not offer any reporting on individual ad placements in the non-search category. This means you can't control and choose where your ad will appear on any given location outside of the main search page.

Article last updated January, 2022. If you find this information to be out of date, please contact hello@perpetua.io.