diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/client_test.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/client_test.go
index 6d2c12ae37..2099fe2d77 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/client_test.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/client_test.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ func newFakeClient(
 	rules kube.ExtractionRules,
 	filters kube.Filters,
 	associations []kube.Association,
+	exclude kube.Excludes,
 	_ kube.APIClientsetProvider,
 	_ kube.InformerProvider,
 	_ kube.OwnerProvider,
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config.go
index e6c3cbf478..5e82c9e46d 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config.go
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	// Association section allows to define rules for tagging spans, metrics,
 	// and logs with Pod metadata.
 	Association []PodAssociationConfig `mapstructure:"pod_association"`
+
+	// Exclude section allows to define names of pod that should be
+	// ignored while tagging.
+	Exclude ExcludeConfig `mapstructure:"exclude"`
 }
 
 func (cfg *Config) Validate() error {
@@ -227,3 +231,13 @@ type PodAssociationConfig struct {
 
 // DefaultDelimiter is default value for Delimiter for ExtractConfig
 const DefaultDelimiter string = ", "
+
+// ExcludeConfig represent a list of Pods to exclude
+type ExcludeConfig struct {
+	Pods []ExcludePodConfig `mapstructure:"pods"`
+}
+
+// ExcludePodConfig represent a Pod name to ignore
+type ExcludePodConfig struct {
+	Name string `mapstructure:"name"`
+}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config_test.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config_test.go
index a86316465c..ce210c6181 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/config_test.go
@@ -48,7 +48,14 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		&Config{
 			ProcessorSettings: config.NewProcessorSettings(config.NewComponentID(typeStr)),
 			APIConfig:         k8sconfig.APIConfig{AuthType: k8sconfig.AuthTypeServiceAccount},
-			Extract:           ExtractConfig{Delimiter: ", "},
+			Exclude: ExcludeConfig{Pods: []ExcludePodConfig{
+				{Name: "jaeger-agent"},
+				{Name: "jaeger-collector"},
+				{Name: "otel-collector"},
+				{Name: "otel-agent"},
+				{Name: "collection-sumologic-otelcol"},
+			}},
+			Extract: ExtractConfig{Delimiter: ", "},
 		})
 
 	p1 := cfg.Processors[config.NewComponentIDWithName(typeStr, "2")]
@@ -119,5 +126,14 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 					Name: "k8s.pod.uid",
 				},
 			},
+			Exclude: ExcludeConfig{
+				Pods: []ExcludePodConfig{
+					{Name: "jaeger-agent"},
+					{Name: "jaeger-collector"},
+					{Name: "otel-collector"},
+					{Name: "otel-agent"},
+					{Name: "collection-sumologic-otelcol"},
+				},
+			},
 		})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/factory.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/factory.go
index 4c4df49c47..67a1e14e73 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/factory.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/factory.go
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ const (
 
 var kubeClientProvider = kube.ClientProvider(nil)
 var processorCapabilities = consumer.Capabilities{MutatesData: true}
+var defaultExcludes = ExcludeConfig{
+	Pods: []ExcludePodConfig{
+		{Name: "jaeger-agent"},
+		{Name: "jaeger-collector"},
+		{Name: "otel-collector"},
+		{Name: "otel-agent"},
+		{Name: "collection-sumologic-otelcol"},
+	},
+}
 
 // NewFactory returns a new factory for the k8s processor.
 func NewFactory() component.ProcessorFactory {
@@ -52,6 +61,7 @@ func createDefaultConfig() config.Processor {
 		Extract: ExtractConfig{
 			Delimiter: DefaultDelimiter,
 		},
+		Exclude: defaultExcludes,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -200,5 +210,7 @@ func createProcessorOpts(cfg config.Processor) []Option {
 
 	opts = append(opts, WithDelimiter(oCfg.Extract.Delimiter))
 
+	opts = append(opts, WithExcludes(oCfg.Exclude))
+
 	return opts
 }
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/go.mod b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/go.mod
index 75678ae865..e3f8521ad2 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/go.mod
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/go.mod
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.22.1
 )
 
+require github.com/kr/pretty v0.2.0
+
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/evanphx/json-patch v4.11.0+incompatible // indirect
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/imdario/mergo v0.3.11 // indirect
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.11 // indirect
 	github.com/knadh/koanf v1.3.2 // indirect
+	github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.5 // indirect
 	github.com/mitchellh/copystructure v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.4.2 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client.go
index 2a25dd4882..795ab372cc 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ type WatchClient struct {
 	Rules        ExtractionRules
 	Filters      Filters
 	Associations []Association
+	Exclude      Excludes
 }
 
 // New initializes a new k8s Client.
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ func New(
 	rules ExtractionRules,
 	filters Filters,
 	associations []Association,
+	exclude Excludes,
 	newClientSet APIClientsetProvider,
 	newInformer InformerProvider,
 	newOwnerProviderFunc OwnerProvider,
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ func New(
 		Rules:        rules,
 		Filters:      filters,
 		Associations: associations,
+		Exclude:      exclude,
 		stopCh:       make(chan struct{}),
 		delimiter:    delimiter,
 	}
@@ -465,9 +468,9 @@ func (c *WatchClient) shouldIgnorePod(pod *api_v1.Pod) bool {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Check well known names that should be ignored
-	for _, rexp := range podNameIgnorePatterns {
-		if rexp.MatchString(pod.Name) {
+	// Check if user requested the pod to be ignored through configuration
+	for _, excludedPod := range c.Exclude.Pods {
+		if excludedPod.Name.MatchString(pod.Name) {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client_test.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client_test.go
index 618f46953f..80c447e1d5 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client_test.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/client_test.go
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ func podAddAndUpdateTest(t *testing.T, c *WatchClient, handler func(obj interfac
 }
 
 func TestDefaultClientset(t *testing.T) {
-	c, err := New(zap.NewNop(), k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, ExtractionRules{}, Filters{}, []Association{}, nil, nil, nil, "")
+	c, err := New(zap.NewNop(), k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, ExtractionRules{}, Filters{}, []Association{}, Excludes{}, nil, nil, nil, "")
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, "invalid authType for kubernetes: ", err.Error())
 	assert.Nil(t, c)
 
-	c, err = New(zap.NewNop(), k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, ExtractionRules{}, Filters{}, []Association{}, newFakeAPIClientset, nil, nil, "")
+	c, err = New(zap.NewNop(), k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, ExtractionRules{}, Filters{}, []Association{}, Excludes{}, newFakeAPIClientset, nil, nil, "")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.NotNil(t, c)
 }
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ func TestBadFilters(t *testing.T) {
 		ExtractionRules{},
 		Filters{Fields: []FieldFilter{{Op: selection.Exists}}},
 		[]Association{},
+		Excludes{},
 		newFakeAPIClientset,
 		NewFakeInformer,
 		newFakeOwnerProvider,
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ func TestConstructorErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			gotAPIConfig = c
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating k8s client")
 		}
-		c, err := New(zap.NewNop(), apiCfg, er, ff, []Association{}, clientProvider, NewFakeInformer, newFakeOwnerProvider, "")
+		c, err := New(zap.NewNop(), apiCfg, er, ff, []Association{}, Excludes{}, clientProvider, NewFakeInformer, newFakeOwnerProvider, "")
 		assert.Nil(t, c)
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, err.Error(), "error creating k8s client")
@@ -851,12 +852,28 @@ func TestPodIgnorePatterns(t *testing.T) {
 				Name: "jaeger-collector",
 			},
 		},
+	}, {
+		ignore: true,
+		pod: api_v1.Pod{
+			ObjectMeta: meta_v1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name: "jaeger-agent-b2zdv",
+			},
+		},
+	}, {
+		ignore: false,
+		pod: api_v1.Pod{
+			ObjectMeta: meta_v1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name: "test-pod-name",
+			},
+		},
 	},
 	}
 
 	c, _ := newTestClient(t)
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
-		assert.Equal(t, tc.ignore, c.shouldIgnorePod(&tc.pod))
+		assert.Equal(t, tc.ignore, c.shouldIgnorePod(&tc.pod),
+			"Should ignore %v, pod.Name: %q, pod annotations %#v", tc.ignore, tc.pod.Name, tc.pod.Annotations,
+		)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -952,7 +969,13 @@ func Test_selectorsFromFilters(t *testing.T) {
 func newTestClientWithRulesAndFilters(t *testing.T, e ExtractionRules, f Filters) (*WatchClient, *observer.ObservedLogs) {
 	observedLogger, logs := observer.New(zapcore.WarnLevel)
 	logger := zap.New(observedLogger)
-	c, err := New(logger, k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, e, f, []Association{}, newFakeAPIClientset, NewFakeInformer, newFakeOwnerProvider, "_")
+	exclude := Excludes{
+		Pods: []ExcludePods{
+			{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-agent`)},
+			{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-collector`)},
+		},
+	}
+	c, err := New(logger, k8sconfig.APIConfig{}, e, f, []Association{}, exclude, newFakeAPIClientset, NewFakeInformer, newFakeOwnerProvider, "_")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	return c.(*WatchClient), logs
 }
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/kube.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/kube.go
index 542fb4d59a..8e4dab381e 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/kube.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/kube/kube.go
@@ -51,14 +51,6 @@ const (
 type PodIdentifier string
 
 var (
-	// TODO: move these to config with default values
-	podNameIgnorePatterns = []*regexp.Regexp{
-		regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-agent`),
-		regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-collector`),
-		regexp.MustCompile(`otel-collector`),
-		regexp.MustCompile(`otel-agent`),
-		regexp.MustCompile(`collection-sumologic-otelcol`),
-	}
 	defaultPodDeleteGracePeriod = time.Second * 120
 	watchSyncPeriod             = time.Minute * 5
 )
@@ -71,7 +63,18 @@ type Client interface {
 }
 
 // ClientProvider defines a func type that returns a new Client.
-type ClientProvider func(*zap.Logger, k8sconfig.APIConfig, ExtractionRules, Filters, []Association, APIClientsetProvider, InformerProvider, OwnerProvider, string) (Client, error)
+type ClientProvider func(
+	*zap.Logger,
+	k8sconfig.APIConfig,
+	ExtractionRules,
+	Filters,
+	[]Association,
+	Excludes,
+	APIClientsetProvider,
+	InformerProvider,
+	OwnerProvider,
+	string,
+) (Client, error)
 
 // APIClientsetProvider defines a func type that initializes and return a new kubernetes
 // Clientset object.
@@ -218,3 +221,13 @@ type Association struct {
 	From string
 	Name string
 }
+
+// Excludes represent a list of Pods to ignore
+type Excludes struct {
+	Pods []ExcludePods
+}
+
+// ExcludePods represent a Pod name to ignore
+type ExcludePods struct {
+	Name *regexp.Regexp
+}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options.go
index eb75536699..14e4d812b9 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options.go
@@ -365,3 +365,22 @@ func WithDelimiter(delimiter string) Option {
 		return nil
 	}
 }
+
+// WithExcludes allows specifying pods to exclude
+func WithExcludes(podExclude ExcludeConfig) Option {
+	return func(p *kubernetesprocessor) error {
+		ignoredNames := kube.Excludes{}
+		names := podExclude.Pods
+
+		if len(names) == 0 {
+			names = defaultExcludes.Pods
+		}
+		for _, name := range names {
+			ignoredNames.Pods = append(ignoredNames.Pods, kube.ExcludePods{
+				Name: regexp.MustCompile(name.Name)},
+			)
+		}
+		p.podIgnore = ignoredNames
+		return nil
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options_test.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options_test.go
index 2fdc916769..0fdb78b8f5 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options_test.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/options_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/selection"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/internal/k8sconfig"
@@ -663,3 +664,48 @@ func TestWithExtractPodAssociation(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestWithExcludes(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args ExcludeConfig
+		want kube.Excludes
+	}{
+		{
+			"default",
+			ExcludeConfig{},
+			kube.Excludes{
+				Pods: []kube.ExcludePods{
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-agent`)},
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`jaeger-collector`)},
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`otel-collector`)},
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`otel-agent`)},
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`collection-sumologic-otelcol`)},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			"configured",
+			ExcludeConfig{
+				Pods: []ExcludePodConfig{
+					{Name: "ignore_pod1"},
+					{Name: "ignore_pod2"},
+				},
+			},
+			kube.Excludes{
+				Pods: []kube.ExcludePods{
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`ignore_pod1`)},
+					{Name: regexp.MustCompile(`ignore_pod2`)},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			p := &kubernetesprocessor{}
+			option := WithExcludes(tt.args)
+			require.NoError(t, option(p))
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, p.podIgnore)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor.go
index 728e336b83..921d1cbc88 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor.go
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ type kubernetesprocessor struct {
 	rules           kube.ExtractionRules
 	filters         kube.Filters
 	podAssociations []kube.Association
+	podIgnore       kube.Excludes
 	delimiter       string
 }
 
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ func (kp *kubernetesprocessor) initKubeClient(logger *zap.Logger, kubeClient kub
 		kubeClient = kube.New
 	}
 	if !kp.passthroughMode {
-		kc, err := kubeClient(logger, kp.apiConfig, kp.rules, kp.filters, kp.podAssociations, nil, nil, nil, kp.delimiter)
+		kc, err := kubeClient(logger, kp.apiConfig, kp.rules, kp.filters, kp.podAssociations, kp.podIgnore, nil, nil, nil, kp.delimiter)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor_test.go b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor_test.go
index 4fcc3a2baa..eff69b6d88 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/processor_test.go
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ func TestProcessorBadClientProvider(t *testing.T) {
 		_ kube.ExtractionRules,
 		_ kube.Filters,
 		_ []kube.Association,
+		_ kube.Excludes,
 		_ kube.APIClientsetProvider,
 		_ kube.InformerProvider,
 		_ kube.OwnerProvider,
diff --git a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/testdata/config.yaml b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/testdata/config.yaml
index 5d8ecd71cd..a0b9196d31 100644
--- a/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/testdata/config.yaml
+++ b/pkg/processor/k8sprocessor/testdata/config.yaml
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ processors:
       - from: resource_attribute
         name: k8s.pod.uid
 
+    exclude:
+      pods:
+        - name: jaeger-agent
+        - name: jaeger-collector
+
 exporters:
   nop: