Meta projects Instagram to dominate US ad income
Driven by the popularity of short-form videos like Reels, Instagram is projected to generate over half of Meta’s US advertising revenue by 2025.
Instagram is poised to account for more than half of Meta Platforms’ US advertising revenue by 2025, according to research firm Emarketer. This anticipated growth is largely attributed to the platform’s enhanced monetisation strategies, particularly its focus on short-form video content such as Reels, which competes directly with TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
The increasing engagement with Reels has attracted marketers seeking to capitalise on the popularity of short videos, leading to a significant rise in ad placements. In 2024, Instagram’s ad revenue was primarily derived from its Feed (53.7%) and Stories (24.6%). However, the combined revenue share from Explore, Reels, and potentially Threads is projected to grow to 9.6% in 2025.
Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Emarketer, notes that users now spend nearly two-thirds of their Instagram time watching videos, underscoring the platform’s shift towards video-centric content. Additionally, if a TikTok ban were to be enforced in the US, Reels could become a prominent alternative for advertisers, further boosting Instagram’s market share.
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