Instagram banned me. Help?

daftmeerkat · Jun 10, 2015

I might have one of the least black hat setups here: I was running FollowLiker for ~3 weeks on only a single IG account with long delays (40-80 seconds) and low settings (150-250 follows/unfollows/likes). This is for a business/brand page where I'm posting high quality original content and getting really high engagement. Broke 1k followers today.

Went to check the IG app tonight, got logged out. Tried logging in again, "Your account has been disabled for violating our terms." and nothing else. No warning, no 24h bans (as far as I can tell), nothing. I never spammed once, never left a comment on anyone else's posts, nothing, just follows and likes is all.

I changed the profile's link today, that's the main thing I can think of that may have triggered it (or maybe the 1k followers, or maybe the 100 seed followers I used to start the account, or maybe the mass unfollowing I was doing with the Crowdfire app... ugh, I don't know).

Is there anything I can do? I guess I can start over with a slight tweak on the username, but we're launching next week and I really would like to get the account back if it's at all possible. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

jaleninc · Jun 10, 2015

Your settings are pretty good, so not sure why they would have banned you.

One of my main accounts was banned in the past. I emailed Instagram support & got the account back that same day.

Try doing that.

fredfred547 · Jun 10, 2015

100% the link. Instagram has been going crazy over links recently. Be careful when posting links as constantly changing it or using a URL Instagram sees as spam is an easy way to get your account banned.

AquaticGamer · Jun 10, 2015

Did you login using different proxies or you ran it on a VPS? Try not to login into your account when your bot is running and stop the bot before you try and upload a picture or interact with people.

daftmeerkat · Jun 10, 2015

jaleninc said:
One of my main accounts was banned in the past. I emailed Instagram support & got the account back that same day.

Try doing that.

Will do, thanks!

daftmeerkat · Jun 10, 2015

AquaticGamer said:
Did you login using different proxies or you ran it on a VPS? Try not to login into your account when your bot is running and stop the bot before you try and upload a picture or interact with people.

Didn't use any proxies/VPS, ran it from my home connection because I'm only FL-ing the single account. Never logged in while the bot was running either

socialcollider · Jun 10, 2015

Hope Instagram banned your IP. try from different proxy.

Goofy454 · Jun 10, 2015

It's because the link. Write to their support and tell them that both the IG account and the website (which you linked) is yours. If they don't give it back just make a new account but without link this time (for a few weeks at least).

imGrej · Jun 10, 2015

100% the link, if you have a relatively small acc (under 5k) and spam links or use shorteners you usually get banned

ChanzGrande · Jun 10, 2015

Seems like this could be a major hurdle if Instagram just decides to ban that link altogether when they implement their advertising platform. I haven't invested much time and energy in IG simply due to the challenges of avoiding ban hammer.

francis1017 · Jun 10, 2015

It's the link.. I have a month old account with a link on it, after changing the link = instant ban hammer.

smartkidwin · Jun 10, 2015

imGrej said:
100% the link, if you have a relatively small acc (under 5k) and spam links or use shorteners you usually get banned

Are you sure bro ? I would like to know

KamikaziTurtlezz · Jun 10, 2015

lmao I'm doing 1k follows and 800 unfollows per day, no bans 6 weeks running

denzelko · Jun 10, 2015

good luck with unbanning your insta

smartkidwin · Jun 10, 2015

imGrej said:
100% the link, if you have a relatively small acc (under 5k) and spam links or use shorteners you usually get banned

do you know when is the right time to put a link on your account ?

Thanks
Steve

growmyinsta · Jun 10, 2015

Check out this thread i made yesterday, should help!

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/social-networking-sites/766714-guide-instagram-limits-strategy-keep-account-safe.html

Paper-Boy · Jun 11, 2015

How much were you unfollowing and following per day?

In terms of links being an issue, I usually hit 3k+ followers first and let it age for 1 month before adding a link. My success rate doing this is around 80%.

daftmeerkat · Jun 11, 2015

Paper-Boy said:
How much were you unfollowing and following per day?

Just checked, my last set settings were following 200-275/day, unfollowing the same. Aged over a month, but not yet past 3k followers - I think what might have done it was the additional manual mass-unfollowing I was doing (though it may have been the link change as well).

crystal1994 · Jun 11, 2015

KamikaziTurtlezz said:
lmao I'm doing 1k follows and 800 unfollows per day, no bans 6 weeks running

Im doing that too.. just twice as high settings.
hasnt got to do anything with his settings. the link is the problem

Goofy454 · Jun 11, 2015

daftmeerkat said:
Just checked, my last set settings were following 200-275/day, unfollowing the same. Aged over a month, but not yet past 3k followers - I think what might have done it was the additional manual mass-unfollowing I was doing (though it may have been the link change as well).

Wait, you were running FL and unfollowing manually at the same time?
Then that was the problem (or part of it) in my opinion. It instantly triggers a flag, because there can't be (ideally) 2 kind of actions from 2 different devices on 1 account. IG was made to be used on phone by 1 person, so it looks a little strange.

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