Instagram is going after YouTube again, and this time it is starting with longer videos. The platform has begun testing a horizontal video format called Features with a small group of US creators. It supports uploads of up to 90 minutes, aimed mainly at podcasters, comedians and others whose content does not fit into short vertical clips.
The way it connects to Reels is the most practical part. Creators can post a short excerpt as a Reel and link it to the full-length Feature, so a viral clip from a podcast leads viewers straight to the whole episode. YouTube already does this with its own linking tools, and Instagram is clearly copying the idea. Since short clips are how most long-form creators get discovered, this link between the two formats may matter more than the 90-minute limit itself.
Instagram has tried this before. IGTV launched in 2018 as a standalone home for longer vertical video, was folded into the main app and was eventually shut down after it failed to gain traction. Features takes a different approach: it is horizontal and built for television as well as phones. Instagram for TV launched on Amazon Fire TV last year and has since reached Google TV, Samsung smart TVs and, most recently, Apple TV.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said he opposed long-form content for years and changed his mind after watching groups of friends share Reels on living room TVs. Whatever the reason, the strategy is clear. Meta wants a share of the hours people spend watching online video on their televisions, where YouTube is currently the leader.
Monetisation is the obvious weak point. Instagram has no formal revenue-sharing program for Features yet, which is a major gap compared with YouTube’s long-established Partner Program. Product VP Tessa Lyons says existing brand sponsorships will carry over to the new format. Instagram is also negotiating individual deals with early partners, including Skims co-founder Emma Grede and sports creator Donald De La Haye, and says it will help smaller creators without agency representation find sponsors.
That may be enough to attract a few well-known names, but it is unlikely to persuade creators who earn a stable income from YouTube ad revenue. YouTube also has a huge library of content, a dominant search position and comes preinstalled on almost every smart TV, phone and console. Instagram is not short of users, but it still has to convince creators that a 90-minute upload is worth their time, and it has not yet said how they will be paid.
