Instagram tests 90-minute videos called Features, taking on YouTube.
Instagram is testing Features, a new upload type that lets creators post videos up to 90 minutes long. The test started in Brazil and is now extending to a small group in the US.
Instagram announced the test on Monday 26 October. Alongside Features it is testing Clips as Reels, which lets creators cut Reels from a long video and link viewers back to the full version, and viewers can send a long video to Instagram's TV app to watch later. Instagram says it is also working on better discovery for Live video and a profile hub for episodic Reels, a series of linked clips similar to TikTok's playlists. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video that he had long been against long-form on Instagram because Reels drive more shares and messages, and credited Tessa Lyons, vice president of product, with persuading him.
It is a reversal for Meta, which shut down IGTV, its earlier long-video product. The money question is still open. Mosseri told the Colin and Samir Show that most creators on Instagram are paid by brands, and that its small performance-based programme costs Instagram more than it earns. A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch it is too early to share a long-term monetisation model and that it is exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans and Instagram. YouTube, by contrast, gives Partner Programme creators 55% of the ad revenue from their videos.
Meta hasn't said whether ads will run inside Features, when the test will widen beyond Brazil and the US, or how long videos will be ranked.
Features is not available in the Gulf yet. When it arrives, Saudi and UAE creators who now treat Instagram as a trailer for YouTube may keep full episodes on Instagram, which changes how brands package integrations and where long-form sponsorships sit.
Why it matters
If Instagram adds ads or payouts to long videos, it could pull creator series and brand integrations away from YouTube, where long-form budgets have usually gone.
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