“Self-Portrait without Beard” by Vincent Van Gogh? 

How about the most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction? (You could buy 5 of them if more than one existed.) 

Why not $100mm worth of YouTube ads? 

That’s precisely what 14 companies did in 2021 when they combined to spend nearly $2.7b on YouTube ads (27% of YouTube ad buys in 2021). 

Which ones? 

You can probably guess a few of them. 

Let’s take a look.

Amazon 

Amazon’s a big fan of video advertising. 

In 2021, the one-time book store turned we’ll-sell-you-anything-on-the-planet store, spent 43% of its ad dollars on videos, of which 99% went to YouTube.

In 2021, Amazon increased its YouTube ad investment by 124% YoY, spending more than $1mm on ads across 23 content categories, including Music, Gaming, Society & Culture, and Kids & Movies. 

• Music channels: 52% of ad buys
• Gaming channels: 9% of ad buys
• Society & Culture channels: 7% of ad buys  
• Kids & Movies channels: 6% of ad buys
• Remaining channels: 3% of ad buys

Amazon spent 47% of its ad dollars to promote Retail products and services, including Amazon.com, Prime, Amazon Pharmacy, Audible and Woot. 

Its Retail category ad spend was up 86% in 2021.

Outside of Retail, Amazon spent 30% of its dollars on Media & Entertainment services, including Amazon Prime Video—an increase that undoubtedly comes from its battle for OTT supremacy. 

The last sizable chunk of spend went to Tech products like Alexa, Halo, Fire TV and Ring. 

Specifically, Amazon increased spending on Alexa and Halo by 78% and 171%, respectively. 

It’s worth noting that Amazon spent 29% less on Fire TV, which flies in the face of its increased promotion of Prime Video and comes at an odd time given the launch of an all-new line of Fire TV devices in Q3. 

Apple

Last year, Apple increased its ad spend on YouTube by 43%—all of which goes to the video giant. 

Although Apple allocated more than $1mm to 15 content channels, the majority of that—67% of the company’s YouTube ads—went to Music channels.  

Outside of Music channels, Apple spent 6% of its ad dollars on Sports channels, while the remaining ads went to channels that each received 4% or less of its spending. 

What did Apple promote on these channels?  

Apple divided it between Media & Entertainment (Apple TV+ shows), Technology (phones, tablets, computers and accessories) and Retail (4% of overall spend), which includes Apple Books and the Apple App Store.

Unsurprisingly, Apple spent heavily on Consumer Electronics, the top category under Tech in 2020 and 2021, representing 96% and 98% of this category’s spend.

Within the Consumer Electronics category, Apple increased spending YoY on everything except Smart Watches, which it spent 41% less on in 2021 than it did the year before. 

File this one under the “we’re not surprised” section: Mobile Phone was the top category, coming in at 27% of Tech spend in 2021; the investment was just shy of 195x of the ad buys in 2020. 

To the same tune, Laptop Computer and Tablet Computer ad buys were up YoY by 363% and 150%, respectively. 

Capital One

Capital One increased its investment in YouTube ads by nearly 315% YoY in 2021, which accounted for 99% of all its video spending and 30% of all digital spending. 

The large increase is likely an indication that the company is shifting its ad strategy. 

Unlike other major players who spent big on dozens of content categories, Capital One focused on fewer: 

• Music channels: 46% of ad buys
• Tech channels: 18% of ad buys
• Food channels: 8% of ad buys
• Remaining channels: 5% or less of ad buys

Q2 and Q3 saw 15 to 18x times the ad buys than the previous year during the same period, which makes sense given the time of year and all the big consumer pushes that Capital One wants to take part in. 

Capital One continued to spend leading up to the holidays. In Q4, spending increased by nearly 175% from the previous year.

So far in 2022, Capital One has spent 200% and 10% more YoY in January and February, respectively. 

Expedia

Ad investment on YouTube for Expedia’s brands, including Trivago, HotWire, Hotels.com, Expedia and Vrbo, increased by almost 200% YoY as it invested over $1mm on 22 content categories. 

• Music channels: 32% of ad buys 
• Kids channels: 13% of ad buys 
• Society & Culture channels: 8% of ad buys
• Sports channels: 7% of ad buys
• Remaining channels: 6% or less of ad buys 

When we look at Expedia’s spending on a brand-by-brand level, we get an interesting story. 

On the one hand, Vrbo, Hotels.com and Hotwire all got substantial increases. 

Vrbo, for example, saw a 300% YoY increase while Hotels.com and Hotwire saw 26x and 83x more ad buys than they did last year. 

On the other hand, spending on Expedia and Trivago went down—Expedia spending went down by 40% YoY. 

While we expected the increases to Vrbo, Hotels.com and Hotwire as the pandemic-induced hiatus (hopefully) ended, it’s a wonder why the company didn’t do the same for its other brands. 

Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, which researches and develops antiviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and influenza, increased its YouTube ad investment by nearly 325% YoY in 2021. 

That’s an increase worth noting under normal circumstances, but the story becomes even more intriguing when you consider that this represents 91% of the company’s total digital spend. 

Said another way, Gilead Sciences essentially increased its total digital advertising budget by more than 300%, indicating a substantial shift in its strategy.

Gilead purchased at least $1mm in ads across 15 content categories: 

• Music channels: 34% of ad buys
• Society & Culture: 17% of ad buys
• Gaming channels: 9% of ad buys
• Movies & Comedy channels: 8% of ad buys
• Remaining channels: 7% or less of ad buys

The company really began ramping up spend toward the end of the year. 

In August, Gilead’s started investing at least 93% of its video ad buys to YouTube (compared to January 2021 when only 54% of its video investment was going to YouTube).

Gilead’s Q4 was the largest quarter and experienced almost 750% growth YoY, which is why we’re not surprised to see spending continue in 2022. 

So far in 2022, ad spending is up 48% and 112% YoY in January and February, respectively. 

The Over $100mm YouTube Ads Club

YouTube’s no stranger to having advertisers open their wallets in a big way.

Given the platform’s maturity, addressable audience and proven ad capabilities, the $100mm+ investments from companies like Amazon, Apple, Capital One, Expedia and Gilead Sciences will continue. 

But that’s not to say other advertisers aren’t welcome. 

In 2021, 18.3k companies promoted over 32k brands on YouTube, helping drive a 56% YoY growth in ad investment and bring total spending to close to $10b.

It’s clear that, while the “Over $100mm YouTube Advertising Club” puts you in impressive company, it’s not a card you must hold to get in the door. 

For more insights like these, sign up for our blog.

If you would’ve asked him in 2005 how many monthly active users YouTube would have in 2022, there’s no way he would’ve said more than two billion.

If you questioned him about the amount of video people would upload to YouTube, 500 hours a minute probably wouldn’t have been on the tip of his tongue.  

If you’d asked him about his expectation about ad revenue, he’d likely say that he didn’t have plans to run ads on YouTube. He certainly wouldn’t have said that it’d yield $209.49 billion in 2021—$115 billion more than another media goliath, Meta (formerly Facebook). 

YouTube’s climb has been nothing short of historical and something we may never see another company duplicate, which is why we’re always so excited to look at our data to see how brands are investing in YouTube advertising.

Our new trend report, In a League of its Own: YouTube Advertising Sales, looks at overall spending, which industries are spending the most, which ad formats rule and more.  

Not a surprise: YouTube ad spending increased

You’ll be sorely mistaken if you’re reading this assuming that the pandemic put a ding in YouTube’s armor. 

While traditional brand marketing declined on YouTube briefly during the pandemic, overall ad sales grew by 56% year-over-year (YoY), thanks to a healthy Q2 and busy holiday season that saw advertisers spending 18% more than they did during the same quarter in 2020.  

Its record-breaking ad sales don’t seem to be enough for the company. YouTube’s expected to be present during this year’s TV upfronts, signaling that it’s intensifying its hunt to lure more dollars away from linear TV advertisers—a move that no doubt has other media players, including ViacomCBS, NBC Universal (NBCU) and Fox paying attention.  

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

If you looked over this data without knowledge of the past couple of years and the state of digital advertising, you might think 2021 was a year like any other. 

After all, the same industries that poured their ad dollars into YouTube in the past were back spending more than ever. 

Last year, advertisers from the Media & Entertainment, Tech, Retail, Finance and Pharma industries bought the most YouTube ads, accounting for 60% of all buys. 

A level deeper, the data reveals two relatively unexpected stories, both of which revolve around the spending habits of Media & Entertainment and Retail advertisers.    

Hint: The storylines probably aren’t what you expect. 

The first one centers around the fact that Media & Entertainment advertisers only increased their spending by 5% YoY in Q3 and Q4, which is surprising considering the historical shopping surge during this time of year. 

The second storyline focuses on a substantial increase from Retail advertisers, a surprising development considering the reserved spending habits of millions of people during the pandemic. 

Some things never change

Like 2020, advertisers spent the most to get their ads to play with a few core content categories: Music, Kids, Society & Culture, and Gaming. (In 2021, the programming categories’ weight of total ad buys remained relatively flat, increasing by only 1% YoY.)

Music once again got the most attention, with 13 thousand companies promoting nearly 23 thousand brands. 

Of these companies, Retailers increased their buys the most, spending 102% more than last year—YouTube can thank Amazon and Walmart for a big part of that, with the former spending 46% more than 2020 and the latter increasing buys by almost 16x to promote Walmart+ and  Indian e-commerce company Flipkart (Walmart owns a controlling stake).

Arguably the most significant difference between this year and last was the willingness of brands to run ads on channels related to Kids content. 

In 2021, spending on this content category increased by almost 160% as toy companies, like Zulu, and travel brands, like Walt Disney World, significantly increased their spending. 

While the increase may surprise some, it was inevitable following YouTube’s implementation of a system that allowed channel owners to identify child-directed contact to maintain compliance with Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA)—something it had to do as part of 

its settlement for alleged violations of children’s privacy laws.

Spending on content categories related to Society & Culture and Gaming increased in 2021 as well.  

YouTube Advertising: Resilient Like No Other

During a period in history that saw so many companies experience tremendous financial losses, YouTube thrived. 

Are we surprised? No. 

Still, YouTube’s continued climb in the face of so much challenge has been remarkable and adds yet another feather in its cap as the uncontested leader of digital advertising. 

Read our full trend report that dives deeper into YouTube advertising trends.

Kids channels, like Blippi, Khan Academy Kids and Peppa Pig, may have been working-from-home parents’ saving grace during conference calls or last minute work projects.

YouTube advertising revenue has grown significantly (by over 30% from 2019 to 2020). Of all the categories MediaRadar tracks on YouTube, education channels saw the largest positive shift in YouTube’s advertising breakdown between 2020 and 2021. 

The majority of kids watch YouTube videos—policies get tighter

YouTube has grown up a lot over the last 16 years. It’s gone through different phases and seen countless viral videos. And the past year has shown that the platform is not just for adults.

According to research from Precise Kids, more than 85% of American kids, between ages 2 and 12, watch videos on YouTube. Not only that, but the platform is more popular than Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Netflix and other platforms.

Because so many children are using YouTube to access videos, YouTube, along with other social media platforms, have experienced pressure from lawmakers to make stricter rules on video content and advertising in order to protect young ones.

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has pushed for a kids’ “privacy bill of rights for the 21st century,” and has proposed changes to the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). 

Lawmakers are also considering the KIDS (Kids Internet Design and Safety) Act which was proposed last month. The act would block features like autoplay, push alerts and like buttons, along with influencer marketing to this age group. 

These privacy protections come at the same time that YouTube is tightening its policies towards consumeristic (and often low-quality) kids content. YouTube’s recently updated ‘high quality principles’ vs ‘low quality principles’ on kids and family content may affect video performance. Creators that create ‘low quality’ content may be suspended from the YouTube Partner Program. 

Though it may seem like a very niche category and policy change, this update can have significant effects on popular kids’ toys review channels, like Ryan ToysReview. Five-year old Ryan and his family make millions of dollars from videos in which Ryan opens toys and shares his reactions. 

Though fun and games may be the theme of these videos, the ad numbers at stake are no joke. 

MediaRadar Insights

From the brands MediaRadar tracks, YouTube brought in $6.8 billion in ad revenue in the first three quarters of the year. Though the largest portion of that spend (29%) of that spend is invested in music channels, the largest shift in advertising was in education spend. 

In 2020, education channels drew in 5% of YouTube’s advertising revenue. 

In 2021, that number grew to 11%. Though it is still relatively small compared to the 48% of Music and ‘Other,’ it represents the biggest categorical shift in channel advertising.

Spend increased in Kid’s Education/Entertainment from $210 million in 2020 to $771 million in 2021 (January – September). 

Top advertisers new to the channel in 2021 include: 

• Serta Mattresses
• Superhero Kindergarten (TV Show)
• The Boss Baby: Family Business (Film)
• Samsung Smart monitors
• The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TV Show).

Advertising appears to target both the parents and children that are watching the content, which explains the mattress and monitor advertising.

The “Other” category grew by 3% year-over-year, but encompasses over 23 subtypes of channels including: Home, Science and Travel.

As content quality improves, we may see increased investment from relevant brands. But it remains unseen how the new laws will impact kids content monetization.  

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy. 

According to Google and Ipsos Connect, nearly four times as many people prefer watching video on YouTube compared to other social platforms. And on average, during Prime Time, YouTube reaches more American adults than any cable network. 

With that type of viewing, the company is raking in the ad dollars. In their latest quarterly earnings report YouTube announced $7.3 billion in ad revenue—a new quarterly record for the company. 

As Google has gone through several major policy changes over the last two years, its ad revenue has fluctuated. Here is a timeline of some of the most impactful changes for creators and how they’ve correlated with ad revenue.

​​YouTube: A Policy Timeline

Before diving into how YouTube’s advertising numbers have grown, here’s a snapshot of some of the most significant changes they’ve launched over the last two years.

• January 2020: Ads are no longer targeted based on audience for any kid-related content.

• April 2020: Content that references or features COVID-19 can now be monetized. After Q1, YouTube’s CFO and CEO were optimistic about content changes and ad revenue sales going forward.

• June/July 2021: YouTube changes the way it monetizes content: they now run ads on any video that does not participate in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), and do not pay creators for any revenue generated from those ads. Any payments to content creators are now considered royalties and subject to US tax law.

• June 2021: YouTube puts in place an explicit ban prohibiting facial recognition software to scrape data for targeted advertising.

At the same time, the platform faced two separate antitrust fights in the European Union and the United States. While ad revenue grew overall, these developments caused dips in YouTube’s revenue over the past year. 

Overall, between January and September 2020, advertisers spent $3.8 billion.
Between January and September 2021, that number increased to $6.89 billion—a 81% increase year-over-year.

Looking at annual changes, we see a dip in the beginning of Q3, as YouTube was feeling some heat surrounding the antitrust probes. However, they were able to recover and September was their strongest month since December 2020.

Growth in September was driven by top spenders like: Verizon Wireless, J.Crew, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Walt Disney World. These four companies spent over $82 million in September alone.

YouTube is expected to pull in even more advertisers who are looking to increase their digital presence this year. And revenue won’t only be driven by new advertisers—advertiser retention is high and top spenders are increasing their investments. As changes in the ad tech ecosystem approach quickly, we expect to see YouTube’s ad revenue continue to climb. 

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy. 

How is programmatic faring with the adjustments? 

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.

YouTube Makes Changes To Mid-Roll Ads

YouTube’s ad revenue slowed down in Q2. Shortly after, the platform adjusted its advertising model.

Ad revenue decreased in Q2 compared to Q1, but bounced back gradually

YouTube’s overall advertising revenue decreased to $3.8 billion in the second quarter of this year, compared to Q1, when it brought in just over $4 billion in ad revenue. However, total revenue was up YoY from $3.6 billion in Q2 of 2019.

Despite the slump in Q2, YouTube is on track to surpass all previous years’ revenues in 2020.

CFO Ruth Porat points to “ongoing substantial growth in direct response” ads as the primary driver behind YouTube’s year-over-year improvement.

However, Porat warns that “it’s premature to say that we are out of the woods, given the nature of the macro environment.” Revenue is increasing, but leaders are aware that this year is still full of uncertainty and are trying to not set expectations too high. 

Changes in monetization took effect in July

In July, YouTube announced a change that increased revenue opportunities for creators and the platform. 

Previously, creators could enable mid-roll ads for videos longer than ten minutes. These mid-roll ads bring in more money than skippable ads presented at the beginning of videos. 

In July, YouTube shortened this requirement to eight minutes. Reducing the time length will make it easier for creators to make enjoyable content and probably have little impact on the viewer’s experience. 

This change was likely in response to the wonky supply and demand issues caused by the pandemic—where there were more viewers than ever, but less brands willing to advertise. In the first half of the year, YouTube advertising rates dropped by nearly 50%.

This new model is likely designed to make up for some of its losses and boost revenue moving forward.

MediaRadar Insights

Methodology

To arrive at the findings below, we looked at programmatic ad spend on the 177 YouTube channels that MediaRadar tracks, analyzing spend and volume compared to 2019.

Findings

The year started off strong for programmatic, constituting 51% of total ad spend on YouTube in January and 48% in February. In March, when COVID‐19 was declared a national emergency, that spending dropped to just 10%.

While spending plummeted, the number of programmatic advertisers increased. This suggests that brands invested in shorter and more “skippable” ads at this time. The largest spike in programmatic advertisers occurred in June, but then started to return to normal levels by August.

Programmatic advertisers made up 30% of all advertisers on the channels we track and were responsible for $28.2 million, or 25% of the total ad spend.

For the rest of the summer, trends recovered to normal levels and programmatic spend is continuing its upward trend.

In the months to come, the results of YouTube’s ad requirement changes will become more evident and we’ll share any noteworthy trends that appear in the data.

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.

YouTube has never taken the challenge of OTT lightly. While there has been plenty of speculation on how online video’s patriarch will fit in the new connected TV landscape, the company’s renewed focus on ad revenue makes the answer clear: quite well, thank you.

With original shows and an ad-supported strategy, YouTube will continue to offer new inventory to advertisers. This means it’s more important than ever to take stock of the advertising landscape within the ever expanding world of YouTube. In this post, we look at who is spending what on the platform. 

YouTube’s Top Advertisers and Industries

YouTube has seen its advertising revenue become more heavily consolidated among two specific industries: Media/Entertainment and Tech.

Collectively, the two industries accounted for 59 percent of advertising dollars spent on YouTube in Q2 2019 — this is up from 46% the same time last year. This is nearly a 30 percent increases year-over-year. 

Outside of Media/Entertainment and tech, automotive companies have also increased their spend YoY. In contrast, retail has decreased ad spend on YouTube compared to last year. 

In the first half of 2019, the top advertisers on the video platform were:

• Disney
• Samsung
• Geico
• Toyota
• Walmart

In the same time period, the top five channels with ad buys (excluding the homepage) were:

• WWE
• PewDiePie
• Linustechtips
• TheEllenShow
• WatchMojo

That’s for the first half of this year. If last year is any indication, we will see advertising spend on YouTube increase across the board just in time for the holiday season. In 2019, ad spend on the video platform increased by over 25 percent (quarter-over-quarter) for the last quarter. 

Where YouTube Stands With Advertising

It’s no secret that YouTube ads are getting longer and more prevalent. As we wrote in past coverage, people don’t really hate ads — they just need them in the right context. It’s a problem that online video advertising is addressing year by year, YouTube included. 

While the Google-owned company continues to promote its Premium version and original content, it is also constantly tweaking and expanding ad offerings to boost revenue. 

Late last year, for example, the platform started testing ad pods: two skippable ads served back-to-back. “YouTube says advertisers are seeing greater reach and frequency when their ads are shown in pods,” reports Amy Gesenhues at MarketingLand. In the same way traditional TV is finding ways to reduce ad load while boosting revenue, YouTube is trying to strike that balance. “YouTube says its research has shown that fewer ad break interruptions correlate with better user metrics, including lower rates of content abandonment and higher rates of ad viewing,” writes Gesenhues. 

Put another way, video ads will only get more targeted and strategic as they grow. According to a report from Forrester, advertisers will spend over $100 billion on video ads by 2023. By 2032, online video’s portion of ad spending will eclipse that of traditional TV. YouTube is sure to be a big part of that. 

In the past year, YouTube has been inundated with grievances, regarding their brand safety. 250 brands actually stopped advertising on YouTube at one moment in time because they felt like their inventory was at risk. Half of advertisers still say YouTube has done a poor job with managing quality. With YouTube in its most vulnerable state, Instagram’s IGTV could threaten the platform’s monopoly on long-form advertising.

The panel consisted of five advertising experts.

MediaRadar Co-Founder and CEO, Todd Krizelman was among the panelists. He was joined by four others, all with various, but impressive backgrounds.

The Moderator

Kerry Flynn (@kerrymflynn) | Media Buying & Platforms Reporter, Digiday

Kerry Flynn is a business reporter who started in newspapers as a student and intern, drifted to magazines like Forbes, and now has spent the past few years in the online media industry. She recently moved from tech reporting at Newsweek Media Group and Mashable to the advertising beat at Digiday to analyze how digital platforms have altered brand strategies. Flynn is a graduate of Harvard University.

The Panelists

Kaydee Bridges (@kaydeebird) | VP, Digital & Social Media Strategy, Goldman Sachs

Kaydee Bridges’ digital and social media work at Goldman Sachs has won several awards from Midas, Digiday Content Marketing Awards, and the Financial Communications Society. Previously, Bridges was at JPMorgan Chase for 10 years, most recently as Vice President, Digital and Social Strategy in the Digital Marketing Group. She also worked in JPMorgan Chase’s Global Philanthropy group, where she launched and led the firm’s first presence on Facebook: Chase Community Giving, a crowd-sourced philanthropic program, which donated over $30 million to thousands of charities. Bridges holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BSFS in International Politics from Georgetown University.

Elijah Harris (@RepriseMedia) | VP, Head of Social Media, US, Reprise Digital

Elijah Harris leads all paid social efforts across Mediabrands US, where he is responsible for driving the discipline’s growth and expansion, as well as the development of the agency’s core product capabilities. Elijah is passionate about data-driven performance, with nearly ten years of experience across the digital landscape. He teaches the agency how to leverage social data and insights to make informed decisions on behalf of Reprise brands. His approach is grounded in a meticulous analysis of the consumer and a solid understanding of the ever-evolving media landscape. Reprise’s clients include Coca Cola, Spotify, Merck, BMW, and Accenture.

Todd Krizelman (@ToddKrizelman) | Co-Founder & CEO, MediaRadar

Growing up in Palo Alto, Todd Krizelman was born and raised near the epicenter of technological innovation. Krizelman joined veteran web architect, Jesse Keller, to found MediaRadar in 2007. After years of thorough research, development, and data collection, MediaRadar is now the most comprehensive data company focused on the ad sales market. He previously co-founded one of the world’s first social media sites, theGlobe.com, and led the site from inception to taking it public on NASDAQ. Krizelman is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School.

Noah Mallin (@NoahMallin) | Managing Partner, Head of Experience, Content, Sponsorship, Wavemaker North America

Noah Mallin is a marketing and advertising veteran with more than a dozen years of experience across three holding companies and a slew of Fortune 500 clients. He’s currently the head of the Content and Experience practice for Wavemaker North America, part of WPP’s Group M set of media agencies. Leading a team of specialists, Noah leverages his innovative mindset to build a data–driven purchase journey approach to compelling marketing, winning a Cannes Gold and Silver Lion in 2017 for Marriott’s MLive creative data suite among other awards. Wavemaker’s clients include IKEA, L’Oreal, Danone, Church & Dwight, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Adobe.

Brittany Richter (@belizabeth86) | VP, Head of Social Media, US, iProspect

A passionate and driven integrated digital marketing professional, Brittany Richter specializes in social media, specifically in paid social strategy and strategic activation. Richter has experience teaching at the college level, speaking and presenting workshops at conferences, corporate trainings, and career counseling sessions. Her workshops incorporate market research by creating, designing, implementing, and evaluating attitudinal survey instruments. Richter is a double alumna of the University of Delaware, earning both her Bachelors and Masters there.

The Space

The Instagram vs. YouTube panel was held at the gorgeous Helen Mills event space in midtown Manhattan. The beautiful space and incredible food would have served as enough for visitors, but that’s only where the night began.

Three Takeaways

1. Instagram’s IGTV has transformed and expanded

What about Instagram’s IGTV has changed?

According to Elijah Harris, IGTV showed him long-form content from people he followed on Instagram, something he often didn’t want. But, that was just at the start. Now, the platform offers more opportunities for him and others to explore.

MediaRadar CEO, Todd Krizelman, also answered that “IGTV is testing a lot of paid advertising and a lot of top 40 hits right now. But, it still feels more like a professional and academic interest to me than one of leisure.”

2. YouTube still wins the popular vote

As a brand, where do you go first and why – YouTube or IGTV?

The majority of panelists agreed that brands should start off with YouTube rather than Instagram’s IGTV for various reasons. To back their claims, the speakers listed the following benefits of YouTube: “cheaper,” “long-form content like podcasts perform better on YouTube,” and it’s “better for sharing.”

Yet, Elizabeth Richter, iProspect’s Head of U.S. Social Media, disagreed. She aptly argued that “if a brand is struggling with their messaging, then, Instagram’s IGTV is best for them because they can then experiment with different brand messages and see how their consumers respond.”

3. The future states of Instagram’s IGTV and YouTube

What do Instagram’s IGTV and YouTube need?

For Instagram’s IGTV, Elijah Harris of Reprise Digital says, “Depends what it wants to be. If it wants to be YouTube, it needs meta tags and better discoverability. If it wants to be Snapchat, it needs curated content and MCN (multi-channel network) participation.”

Mallin, Managing Partner at Wavemaker North America, added that “It also needs breakout content … Even Vine, which I’m still mourning, there was amazing content there.”

Now, for YouTube, Mallin argues that “It needs to get more mobile. It’s still stuck in its desktop roots.”