Instagram Announces IGTV For Its 1 Billion Monthly Active Users

Instagram struck 1 billion monthly active users not a decade into its life, but Facebook, Inc. FB’s not content to rest on its laurels.

WHat Happened

The firm announced Wednesday that it would roll out IGTV for video viewing within the next day.

As both a standalone app and tab in the main app, IGTV competes with Snap Inc SNAP’s Discover by allowing users to upload vertical and full-screen videos up to one hour in length, view content from people they follow and receive personalized recommendations for material outside their virtual communities.

Videos can be sent directly to friends or posted in personal channels, and they can be paused to continue watching later.

Why It's Important

IGTV advances Facebook’s efforts to rival Alphabet Inc GOOGL’s YouTube. It complements Facebook Watch for more professional original content viewed in-platform.

The new channel also provides Facebook a fresh avenue for ad revenue, although Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said at a company event that there are currently no ads in IGTV.

“[It’s] obviously a very reasonable place [for ads] to end up,” Systrom said.

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