Instagram to Ditch IGTV App and In-Stream Ads
Alison Anderson
07 Mar 2022
nstagram which started as a photo-focused social media is more and more about videos in the latest year. Now, under pressure from TikTok, it reviews its video-focused projects. IGTV is to be ditched as a separate app, and its features migrate to the main app. In addition, it changes its ad policy.
IGTV was created as a tool for long videos which were not supported by the main Instagram app. It created some confusion, though, as one had to switch between apps to watch their friends’ streams, and the standalone content didn’t hold up to the expectations. On February 28, Instagram announced that it would close the IGTV app soon. Given that last year, Instagram introduced a unified format Instagram Video where feed videos and IGTV are merged.
As IGTV is officially sentenced, the main video-focused project by Instagram is now Reels. This short video service embedded into the main app now provides enough content and response to continuing. Given this, Instagram pays more attention to adding more ways of advertising and monetizing on Reels. They include sticker ads that Instagram recently announced and probably other forms that make sense on short videos. More than that: creators that used to rely on video ads will receive a certain compensation.
But as for video ads that would interrupt long videos, they are doomed too. Instagram has announced that this ad format would be ditched to make the overall video experience user-friendlier. This may also mean that Instagram no more relies on long videos, leaving this to Reels on Facebook, recently launched. This format allows for more monetization options.
Are you a video creator, or do you prefer to watch videos? Will you miss IGTV? And what do you expect from sticker ads? Won’t they spoil the experience? Let’s share our expectations in the comments!