- Instagram generates $32.4 billion in ad revenue in 2021.
- The platform’s efficient revenue model contributes to rapid growth since 2012.
- Court documents reveal Instagram’s exponential rise.
Instagram has proven to be a massive player in the world of social media and advertising, as revealed by a new court filing.
The photo and video app generated an astonishing $32.4 billion in ad revenue in 2021, accounting for 27% of Meta’s overall revenue. This impressive figure surpasses Google’s YouTube, which generated $28.8 billion in ad revenue that same year.
Efficient revenue generation
Unlike YouTube, which shares 55% of its ad revenue with content owners, Instagram and most other social apps spend significantly less, expecting users to provide photos and videos for free.
This efficient revenue generation model has contributed to Instagram’s rapid growth since Meta (then Facebook) acquired the platform for $1 billion in 2012, when it was a revenue-free photo-sharing startup with a handful of employees.
Exponential growth under Meta’s ownership
The court documents showcase Instagram’s exponential growth under Meta’s ownership, with advertising revenues skyrocketing from $11.3 billion in 2018 to $32.4 billion in 2021, and reaching $16.5 billion in the first half of 2022 alone.
Now run by former Facebook product executive Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s impressive performance suggests that the platform could be worth around $440 billion, based on its estimated contribution to Meta’s overall revenue and the company’s current market capitalization of $1.34 trillion.
