Instagram tests 90-minute videos called Features. Creators get no ad revenue share yet

Instagram started testing videos of up to 90 minutes on 26 October. The format is called Features. It ran first in Brazil and is now in a small test in the United States. Instagram has not said how creators will be paid for these longer videos.

A second tool, Clips as Reels, lets creators cut short parts of a long video and post them as Reels. Each Reel links back to the full video. Viewers can also save a long video and send it to Instagram’s TV app to watch later.

Adam Mosseri changed his mind on long video after pressure from Tessa Lyons

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said he had been against long-form video on the app “for a long time”. He has argued that Reels drive more shares and direct messages than longer posts. According to TechCrunch, Tessa Lyons, Instagram’s vice president of product, pushed for the change. She said Reels will stay at the centre of the app.

Instagram has tried this before. Its IGTV app for longer uploads launched eight years ago and was later shut down.

YouTube pays creators 55% of ad revenue. Instagram has no plan yet

A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch it is “too early to share a long-term monetization model”. Variety’s headline put it more directly: Instagram is not sharing ad revenue with creators for the test.

Today most Instagram creators earn from brand deals, with some money from fans. Mosseri said Instagram’s small performance-based payment program costs more than it brings in. YouTube, by contrast, gives creators in its Partner Program 55% of the ad revenue from their videos. In a YouTube survey of 20,617 EU creators, 83% said they depend on its recommendations to find viewers.

Brands paying Instagram creators get a longer format to sponsor

For now, brands are the main regular source of income for a creator who posts a 90-minute Instagram video. That gives marketers more room in sponsored content: a full episode, a long tutorial or a live event recording, with Reels that send people to it.

In the short term, brands with creator budgets gain the most, because their money is what pays for long Instagram videos. Creators are worse off than on YouTube until Meta pays them for views. YouTube could lose some watch time if large creators move long videos to Instagram. It keeps adding tools of its own, such as editing Shorts by typing instructions.