Instagram Moves Forward on Testing Monetization for IGTV
Monetization on IGTV appears to be one step closer, as Instagram is now testing ways for creators to earn money on their content for the long-form video destination.
Developer and blogger Jane Manchun Wong shared screenshots in a tweet of an IGTV ads section under the Instagram Partner Program.
One screen reads, “You’re eligible to monetize your IGTV videos. You can earn money by running short ads on your IGTV videos. When you monetize on IGTV, you agree to follow the Partner Program monetization policies.”
Those policies were not detailed, but parent company Facebook’s partner monetization policies can likely be used as a guide.
An Instagram spokesperson said in a statement, “We continue to explore ways to help creators monetize with IGTV. We don’t have more details to share now, but we will as they develop further.”
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri elaborated in a tweet, “It’s no secret that we’ve been exploring this. We focused first on making sure the product had legs—or else there would be little to monetize in the first place. IGTV is still in its early days, but it’s growing, so we’re exploring more ways to make it sustainable for creators.”
Creators and publishers on Facebook Watch, Facebook’s long-form video destination, can earn money via pre-roll ads and mid-roll in-stream ads and, while Instagram would not comment, the in-stream ads model, where content creators keep 55% of revenue generated, would seem like a logical one to follow.
Instagram has made other changes to IGTV in recent months that appear to be smoothing the path toward monetization.
Support for series was added to IGTV last October, and in January, Instagram simplified the process of uploading videos, enabling people and brands to do so the same way they already upload photos and videos to Instagram’s main feed.
Publishers have expressed interest should Instagram move forward.
George Stewart, chief revenue officer of lifestyle entertainment company Kin, said in an interview last month, “I absolutely believe that Facebook will extend some variation of monetization to IGTV. The real innovation in marketing has been around the platforms. IGTV provides another means for reaching people under different circumstances.”
