Report: Facebook has pushed Instagram into doubling the number of ads since last year; Instagram is testing two back-to-back ads in Stories
Instagram is about to get even more ads. — Beginning this week, the platform is running a test with what it told AdWeek is a “small percentage” of users. Source: The Information .
TubefilterJames Loke Hale
Context & Ripple Effects
The ad load on Instagram has been climbing since Facebook opened its full targeting suite to the app in 2015 (opened its entire ad-targeting suite to Instagram) and rolled out global formats like 30-second spots and Marquee that same year. Stories became the next inventory frontier when Instagram put skippable full-screen ads there in early 2017, five months after the format launched.
What is new per this report is pressure from above: The Information's reporting says Facebook pushed Instagram to double its ad count since last year, and Instagram is now testing two consecutive ads within a single Stories break on a small percentage of users — building on monetization tools like the Promote boost for business pages it added in late 2018.
First-order effects
Users in the test cohort see two back-to-back ads inside one Stories session, the first time Instagram has stacked placements within a single break rather than spacing them between stories.
Second-order effects
Advertisers gain denser Stories inventory but face a higher bar to hold attention in the second slot, pushing budgets toward the premium formats Instagram has favored since Marquee; rivals like Snapchat, which pioneered the Stories ad unit Instagram adopted in 2017, come under pressure to justify their own pricing against cheaper reach on Instagram.
Third-order effects
If the doubling holds, Facebook-owned surfaces converge on an ad-density model where parent-company targets, not product teams, set load — reinforcing the gatekeeper leverage Facebook has exercised over Instagram since folding it into its ad infrastructure in 2015.
The trend: Facebook is steadily converting Instagram engagement into denser ad inventory, with Stories — its fastest-growing surface since 2017 — absorbing the most aggressive increases.
.@instagram is getting even MORE ads??? I can barely keep the app open 30 seconds as it is now before having to close it because of the ads. So glad I can pay a subscription fee for an ad-free @flickr https://www.tubefilter.com/...
I talked to a bunch of former and current employees about the last year inside Instagram, a time summed up by what some called “giving back to the family.” Includes recent buisness directives Facebook has given the org to increase number of ads, etc.. http://thein.fo/...
“Behemoth firm smothers fast growing in-house innovation in bid to keep dying legacy business alive then gets out-competed by a nimble startup” is the oldest Silicon Valley story in the world. Does Facebook realize that it's IBM in 1982 right now? https://twitter.com/...
Facebook told Instagram to double the amount of ads on the app, Mosseri is hyper focused on shopping. Great details from @alexeheath about what's been going on at Instagram since the beginning of last year. http://thein.fo/...
Super impressive piece from @alexeheath here, who reports on how Instagram has been dependent on FB, then surpassed FB in cultural cache, lost some of its internal culture due to FB encroaching and lots of other details in between: https://twitter.com/...
.@alexeheath goes behind the scenes on FB-IG dynamics. Facebook executives have “begun to openly discuss how Instagram could ‘give back to the family.’” How does IG get to its next $10Bn in revenue? Getting you to buy more stuff through the app. https://www.theinformation.com/ ..…
an @theinformation reader, in the comments section of this piece, asks: “Am I missing something or is this a product with no real value except supporting ego gratification and self-promotion? Or is there more to Instagram?” Thoughts? https://www.theinformation.com/ ... via @alexe…
Instagram was expected to do $10B i revenue last year after $1 billion a few years earlier. Let that sink in. A nice tidbit from @alexeheath's piece. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...