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In a petition submitted by Meta in its effort to reject antitrust claims by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), details about the advertising revenues Instagram has generated in the last few years attract attention. With $32.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2021, Instagram surpassed YouTube, which earned $28.8 billion in revenue in the same year. Business Insider has previously pointed out this lead over Google's video unit, noting that YouTube shares 55% of every ad dollar with content owners who upload videos, while Instagram pays a much smaller rate.
This income difference is also noticeable when we go back further to 2020 and 2019. Meta lists Instagram's ad revenues as $22 and $17.9 billion, respectively, while YouTube's ad revenues were stated as $19.7 and $15.1 billion, respectively, in its annual report for the same years.
Instagram's growing importance for Meta
Figures show Instagram's share of Meta's revenues jumped from 26% in 2020 to almost 30% in the first six months of 2022, according to Bloomberg. The figures from the petition provide more insight than Meta's quarterly earnings reports, which do not detail Instagram separately. Now it becomes much clearer how important Adam Mosseri's part is for the Meta.
With this success in advertising revenues, Instagram is on its way to becoming an indispensable platform not only in the field of digital advertising, but also for content creators and brands. This increase in advertising revenues can be considered an indication that the platform is providing a continuous improvement in user interaction and the value it offers for advertisers.
One of the reasons for the difference between it and YouTube can be shown as the smaller share that Instagram transfers from advertising revenues to content creators. This allows Instagram to manage ad revenue more efficiently and achieve higher profit margins. In addition, the advertising diversity and targeting capabilities offered by Instagram make it attractive for brands and support the growth in the platform's advertising revenues.
This success story reveals not only the competition between digital platforms, but also how platforms follow different strategies to take the lead in advertising revenues. Instagram's progress on this path includes strategies that can set an example for other platforms and plays an important role in determining new trends in the field of digital marketing.
This remarkable increase in Instagram's advertising revenues is not only a financial success for Meta, but also a development that underlines the effectiveness and importance of the platform in the field of social media and digital marketing. This is proof of how Instagram brings users and brands together and has become a leader in the digital advertising space.