Instagram increases video ads to 60 seconds, though you’re stuck with 15

By Trevor Mogg Updated February 4, 2016

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If it feels like those Instagram ads are going on a bit, it’s because they are. The company is now allowing marketers to post minute-long presentations, up from the 15- and 30-second slots previously available.

The new format launched on Wednesday with new ads from T-Mobile and Warner Bros. T-Mobile’s effort, embedded below, is a longer version of its upcoming Super Bowl ad set to air on Sunday, though already viewable here.

We’re in the #BigGame with @ChampagnePapi. #YouGotCarriered

A video posted by tmobile (@tmobile) on Feb 3, 2016 at 8:37am PST

Warner Bros.’, meanwhile, is a trailer for its new movie, How to be Single.

The last time the Facebook-owned company pulled a similar move was back in September when it started offering marketers a maximum running time of 30 seconds, up from 15, which, incidentally, is all regular users get when it comes to posting videos. At the same time, the company extended the availability of its ad platform beyond just big-name brands and also rolled it out to marketers in 30 additional countries.

In another move to help generate some ad dollars, Instagram recently launched Marquee, a “premium product” that it said would help brands “drive mass awareness and expanded reach in a short time-frame” and be ideal for promoting events like movie premieres and new product launches. More recently it’s been testing 3D Touch ads.

The popular photo app, which at the last count had 400 million users, landed on the scene in 2010. Static sponsored messages didn’t arrive on the platform till 2013, with the first video ads appearing the following year. Instagram’s gradual increase of an ad’s maximum running time from 15 to 30 to 60 seconds reflects an understandably cautious approach toward incorporating sponsored messages as the company does its best to keep users on side. In which case, how long before we see the first two-minute ad….

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Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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