Instagram, Meta’s photo and video sharing app, has generated more advertising revenue than YouTube in recent years. According to new court documents filed by Meta, Instagram generated $32.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2021, more than YouTube generated $28.8 billion in the same year.
Instagram’s advertising revenue disclosure was shared as Meta tries to get a judge to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit against the company. Court documents also show that Meta bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. He revealed how quickly Instagram has grown since the purchase.
When Meta (then called Facebook) bought Instagram, the app was small and had no revenue. Under the leadership of Adam Mussery, Instagram is now Meta’s main source of income. In 2018, Instagram earned $11.3 billion from advertising. This number reached $17.9 billion in 2019, $22 billion in 2020, $32.4 billion in 2021 and $16.5 billion in the first six months of 2022.
One of the main reasons Instagram makes more money from ads than YouTube is that content for the app doesn’t cost much to produce. YouTube donates 55% of its advertising revenue to people who create videos for the platform. However, Instagram and many other social media apps do not pay for the photos and videos you post.
Instagram has generated more advertising revenue than YouTube in recent years. In 2020, Instagram’s advertising revenue was $22 billion, compared to YouTube’s $19.7 billion. In 2019, Instagram earned $17.9 billion from advertising, while YouTube earned $15.1 billion.
Meta’s court documents show that Instagram has become a very important part of the company’s business. In 2020, Instagram accounted for 26% of all meta sales. By the first half of 2022, this number has increased to almost 30 percent.
Instagram is worth around $400 billion, which is about what analysts think YouTube is. It is said that Instagram currently accounts for about a third of Meta sales and the trend is rising.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
