Instagram challenges YouTube: Meta tests landscape-format long-form videos
With videos up to 90 minutes long and targeted links via Reels, Instagram is launching an attack on long-standing video market leader YouTube.
With long-form videos in landscape format and a new TV strategy, Instagram is further closing in on market leader YouTube. For a long time, the platform was known for square photos and short-form vertical videos. Now, it is testing the ability for selected content creators in the US to upload videos up to 90 minutes long in 16:9 landscape format. The TV app "Instagram for TV" is also becoming more of a focus.
The company announced this in a video on its own platform. The video is no longer accessible, but several magazines, including Variety, are reporting on the announcement. The new so-called "Feature Videos" are clearly oriented much more towards classic YouTube formats.
YouTube and Instagram continue to converge
For many years, YouTube and Instagram existed side-by-side without much overlap: YouTube for longer videos in landscape format, Instagram as a social media platform for photos and short videos. In recent years, however, the services have moved closer together.
In 2018, Meta introduced a separate app called IGTV ("Instagram TV") for long videos. However, IGTV flopped and was discontinued in 2022. Since then, videos of up to 60 minutes have been possible directly in the Instagram feed. Conversely, in 2020, YouTube introduced specially recommended short-form vertical videos ("Shorts"), which are similar to Reels on Instagram. Both platforms support live streams and both have a gigantic reach with an estimated two to three billion monthly users – although the short-video platform TikTok has been catching up strongly since the 2020s.
Many creators already publish short Reels today as a preview for longer videos on YouTube. Instagram often serves as a reach engine for content that is subsequently consumed on a competing platform. Now, Instagram seems to be trying to bind users more closely to itself. Soon, it could be possible for more producers to upload long-format videos directly to Instagram and link to them via Reels with up to eight short clips. This could allow Instagram to keep users on the platform longer and encourage them to consume podcasts, interviews, or vlogs directly in the app.
According to Variety, Mosseri stated in the announcement that he had always had reservations about long videos. This is because those watching a long video are not sharing or liking content during that time. YouTube was able to build its position as the undisputed market leader for long, user-generated videos in landscape format over more than a decade.
Instagram on TV
Meta now apparently wants to change that. In December of last year, the company announced the smart TV app Instagram for TV, setting the course to bring the content of the app, originally optimized for mobile devices, to the big screen in the living room. It is available for Amazon, Google, Samsung, and now also Apple TV, as reported by Variety, among others.
Instagram also apparently wants to expand its live function. Instead of only showing live streams to followers, they are to be discoverable in the Reels area in the future. This will integrate live streams more strongly into the recommendation algorithm and allow them to reach a larger audience.
No ad revenue sharing for content creators on Instagram
It remains to be seen how interesting long videos will be for content creators on Instagram. Unlike YouTube, Instagram does not yet have a comparable advertising revenue model for long videos. Variety quotes a statement saying that the company is exploring ways in which producers can earn money "through brands and fans." Performance-based compensation models are also an option.
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