Instagram Now Takes 90-Minute Videos. This Time, There's No 55% Ad Revenue Share.

Instagram wants long videos and TV viewing time. It hasn't said how creators will get paid for them.

On Monday, 26 October, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and product VP Tessa Lyons announced Features in a video on the app. Features are horizontal uploads for podcasts, vlogs, interviews and episodes. Variety's Todd Spangler reported that Instagram is testing several length limits, up to 90 minutes in some cases. After a test in Brazil, it is now running a small test in the US. The Hollywood Reporter's Caitlin Huston reported a plan to reach "tens of thousands of creators" in the US. Early names include Emma Grede, Monet McMichael, Preston Rakovsky and Donald De La Haye.

A companion tool, Clips as Reels, lets up to eight short clips link back to one long video. Instagram for TV is now on Apple TV in the US, alongside Samsung, Fire TV and Google TV.

What Instagram says about pay

There is no ad revenue share. An Instagram spokesperson told Variety the company is funding long-form content "directly with some creators right now," and that "it's too early to share a long-term monetization model." Meta told TechCrunch's Amanda Silberling it is "exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans, and Instagram, including performance-based incentives."

Lyons told The Hollywood Reporter that Instagram is working on "a few different deals" with early creators, with no exclusivity. Sponsor placements already in a video carry over. Instagram says it will also help creators without sponsors find deals.

Mosseri has explained the reluctance before. In a Colin and Samir Show interview quoted by TechCrunch, he said Instagram's performance program spends "more money than we make back by a long shot," so scaling it means "just burning capital." In May 2025, Moneycontrol's Vikas SN reported him telling Indian creators that "for every dollar we pay out, we just burn the vast majority of it." He said paying 50 million to 100 million creators would cost "billions or tens of billions of dollars."

The benchmark it has to beat

YouTube's help page sets out its rates. Creators get 55% of net revenue from ads on their long-form videos, 45% of their share of the Shorts creator pool, and 70% of memberships and Super Chat.

Posthype's arithmetic: on YouTube, $1,000 of net ad revenue from an episode pays the creator $550. The same episode on Instagram Features pays nothing from ads unless the creator has a direct deal with Instagram.

Instagram has paid 55% before

In May 2020, Instagram put ads in IGTV, its earlier long-video product. COO Justin Osofsky told The Verge's Ashley Carman that about 200 creators would get an "industry standard" 55% cut. In February 2022, TechCrunch's Aisha Malik reported that Instagram was ending in-stream video ads, formerly IGTV ads, to focus on Reels. Creators who were earning from them got a temporary monthly payment.

Meta does pay creators on another app. It says Facebook paid creators nearly $3 billion in 2025, up 35%, across short and long videos, Stories, photos and text. Its Creator Fast Track guarantees $1,000 a month for three months to creators with 100,000 followers elsewhere, and $3,000 above one million.

What this means for creators and brands

For creators, treat Features as distribution, not income. If Instagram offers direct funding, get the terms in writing: length, number of uploads, any exclusivity. None applies now, so keep YouTube as the paid home for the full episode. Use Clips as Reels to send viewers to whichever version earns. For brands, a sponsor read baked into a podcast now travels to Instagram and its TV app at no extra cost. Expect creators to start pricing that reach. Before you sign a long-form deal, check the contract says which platforms the integration may appear on.