What’s more profitable than one video ad? Multiple video ads at the same time.
Instagram is expanding its ad carousel unit to now include five separate videos, up to 60 seconds long. The photo-sharing app launched the carousel last fall, letting brands add multiple images into a swipeable format along with a link that directs people to the company’s website.
The format has been a hit: People are 10 times more likely click on photo carousel ads compared to a static sponsored post, so Instagram is likely hoping the same success rate happens for the video-heavy carousel format.
Airbnb, Macy’s, ASOS, and Taco Bell, which has skillfully made fun of recipe videos in its latest Instagram campaign, are among the first brands to try the carousel. The new ads are sold on a cost-per-thousand basis. (In December, Digiday reported that Instagram ad prices were about 65 cents per click, or between $5.75 and $6 for a thousand views.)
Instagram has been pushing video on to its users lately. In March it extended the total possible length of videos from 15 seconds to a minute and remodeled the Explore tab to show off more videos.
Users will begin seeing the new ads in the coming weeks.
More in Media
After an oversaturation of AI-generated content, creators’ authenticity and ‘messiness’ are in high demand
Content creators and brand marketing specialists on how 2026 will be the year creator authenticity becomes even more crucial in the face of rampant AI-generated “slop” flooding social media platforms.
‘The net is tightening’ on AI scraping: Annotated Q&A with Financial Times’ head of global public policy and platform strategy
Matt Rogerson, FT’s director of global public policy and platform strategy, believes 2026 will bring a kind of reset as big tech companies alter their stance on AI licensing to avoid future legal risk.
Future starts to sharpen its AI search visibility playbook
Future is boosting AI search citations and mentions with a tool called Future Optic, and offering the product to branded content clients.