Instagram is testing ‘interest search’ to make results more intuitive

Instagram is working on making its search function more intuitive. The app is experimenting with changes that allow users to search for content based on topics rather than account names or hashtags.

Up until now, Instagram’s search has been fairly rudimentary. Typing “kittens” into the search bar would turn up results for specific accounts or hashtags, for example, but you’d have to jump around different pages to actually find kitten content. But with the update, searching for topical content on Instagram will be more like Pinterest, with a grid of photos and videos related to that topic.

“We've been experimenting with what we are internally calling interest search,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video posted to Twitter. He added that the new search results are available for “a range of topics and a range of languages” but that Instagram is still “working to expand” the feature. For now, users can browse the new results by looking for search terms that have a magnifying glass next to them.

How Search Works 🔎

In this video I cover...
- How we rank search
- How to show up on search
- How we keep search safe
- What’s new for search

If you’d like to dig in further check out our new blog post: https://t.co/aJmnNEqbKZ pic.twitter.com/n0uc7rG0Nn

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) August 25, 2021

Instagram has teased other major updates to its search features in recent months. The app is also working on a visual search feature that would allow users to find products using the in-app camera, though the company hasn’t shared additional details.