Instagram recently announced its plans to sell advertisements via the IGTV, the company's platform for longer videos, also an attempt to compete against YouTube for a greater share of the flourishing online video market. This popular social media company began to reach out to its top video developers late last week, asking them to team up on some ad tests.
According to Instagram, should the video creators agree to enter into collaboration, they would earn "a 55-percent share of all the advertising in IGTV." This, according to those knowledgeable about the matter, is also the same rate YouTube is offering ist partners.
The company, according to reports, is set to start testing advertisements this spring. Instagram chief operating officer, Justin Osofsky said, this new development is another step ahead to help the video creators earn with IGTV. He added, to ensure the company's getting it right, Instagram is into discussions with some emerging video creators to help them "test the advertisement and plan to expand slowly."
The absence of proceeds or income-sharing was among the main reasons today's top digital stars remained resistant to the IGTV format, which is separate from the main feed on one's Instagram account.
ALSO READ: Twitter Now Testing "Fleets" Tweets that Vanish After 24 Hours
How the Ads on IGTV Works
Within Instagram, ads that appear like ordinary posts already earn around $20 billion yearly in profits, accounting for over a quarter of sales at Facebook, Inc. the company that owns Instagram. This was reported by people who know more about the matter.
In addition to this, Facebook is depending on Instagram in fueling its next initiative for growth, specifically as its primary social network experiences a slowdown.
Moreover, Menlo Park, California-based Facebook, hasn't broken out the numbers or figures for Instagram.
To date, Instagram has ads posted on its main feed to keep the public posted or updated. The ads are available too, as the platform's stories feature which as highlights posts disappearing 24 hours after they're posted. YouTube, on the other hand, the largest and most popular online video site in the world, generated about $15 billion in ad sales in 2019.
Presently the companies included in the "online video advertising market" include Hulu of Walt Disney, iRoku Inc., and Amazon.com Inc.
A Challenge to Attract Users
Tech observers have compared the video to a nut that seems so "hard to crack." Since it first debuted in 2018, it's been a challenge for IGTV to attract new users in a large portion since a lot of the most famous profiles of Instagram have yet to upload longer videos together with their brief descriptions and photos.
Opposite YouTube, Instagram is currently not sharing its advertising sales with video creators or developers. However, the company announced this is going to change them soon.
For those who are not yet familiar with IGTV, Instagram said this is a different platform in many different ways. First, this platform is designed specifically for phone use.
Therefore, videos recorded vertical and full screen. More so, different from Instagram video posts, the ones posted on IGTV are not restricted to just a minute. Each video can last to up to one hour, instead.
IGTV is also designed simply. The developers describe it as if the user is just like turning on his television. That once the user opens the platform, it immediately starts playing the videos.
