Social Rocket
Instagram is investing directly in other people's video success. For its new long-form format Features, the platform reportedly offered selected YouTube creators between 50.000 and 500.000 US dollars. Business Insider reported this on the 29th of October 2026, citing people familiar with the contracts. Meta confirms it pays individual creators for Features but does not disclose any amounts itself.
For video podcasters, agencies and brands, the interesting news behind the high figures is this: Instagram is trying to make an established YouTube production available on its platform in addition, rather than persuading creators to switch platforms entirely.
The deals buy availability, not exclusivity
According to the contract details researched by Business Insider, participating creators do not have to give up their YouTube channels. At least some are said to publish their new long-form videos on Instagram on the same day. This lowers switching costs: a finished podcast or interview episode can serve two platforms, while Meta pays for the additional distribution.
Features was introduced on the 26th of October as a limited test for horizontal videos up to 90 minutes. It initially runs with selected creators in the USA and Brazil. How the combination of full episodes and Reels clips works is explained in our earlier report on Instagram's 90-minute test.
Why Instagram has to solve a problem YouTube has long monetized
On YouTube, long-form video is part of an established business: videos can keep earning money through advertising, memberships and other revenue streams. On Instagram, Features still lacks a general, comparable revenue-sharing model. A one-off contract secures content available at launch; ongoing uploads require convincing earning prospects.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri explicitly acknowledged the importance of this economic question at Threads at the end of October. According to him, Meta is examining several compensation models. While YouTube enables an ongoing share in video usage, Meta here pays individually negotiated content deals. Our comparison of creator monetization shows how different the platforms' business models are.
The company is working on distribution at the same time. As early as in June, Meta announced horizontal videos, series and longer creator content for Instagram for TV. Together with Reels teasers, this creates a clear path: short discovery on the smartphone, then the full episode in the app or on the television.
What German creators and brands can learn from the pilot
The reported six-figure deals are individual agreements with selected personalities, not a funding program that German accounts can book. What is more interesting is how contracts and production plans change once the same episode appears on YouTube and Instagram in parallel.
For brand partnerships, three things therefore belong in the brief: rights for every publishing platform, clean labeling of the partnership, and reporting that does not mix short teasers with long videos people actually watch. Meaningful metrics are the referral from the Reel to the full version, audience retention per episode, and the actions taken after the video.
The data on especially current recommendations in the Reels feed also shows why teasers should be timed to new episodes. And for paid collaborations, it is worth looking at the impact of Instagram collab posts.
The competition is shifting from video length to business model: Meta needs high-quality episodes and sustainable compensation; YouTube already brings both at scale. For agencies, parallel distribution opens new reach, as long as usage rights are considered from the outset.
Sources: Business Insider, 29 October; Instagram coverage at Social Media Today, 1 November; Meta newsroom on Instagram for TV, 22 June. Image: Flipsnack / Unsplash (stock photo).