Instagram Expands Its Reels Ads Test To New Markets

After starting to test Reels ads in four markets last month, Instagram is now expanding to four more.

In a bid to monetize Reels, last month Instagram started testing Reels ads in Australia, Brazil, Germany, and India. Now, Instagram is expanding the total number of markets in its test to eight, as Canada, France, the UK, and the US are now being included.

A small pool of brands will be part of the latest test group to be added and include Knix Wear, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Netflix, and Swiggy.

Over the last year or so, Facebook has been steadily developing Reels, to attract more users and, of course, more creators. However, it’s been just recently that Instagram started testing ways to monetize the product with Reels ads, a full-screen vertical ad format reminiscent of Stories ads.

Reels ads appear between Reels and loop in the same way that Reels do, and as of last year, they can last up to 30 seconds. Users can interact with them by commenting, liking, saving, sharing, skipping, or viewing them.

Finally, they have full control over what ads they see, and can also report ads.

After starting to test Reels ads in four markets last month, Instagram is now expanding to four more – Canada, France, the UK, and the US.

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A spokesperson recently commented that the company is “closely monitoring feedback from consumers and advertisers to ensure the right balance of content from friends and family to brands and businesses.”

The slow rollout of Reels ads is a good thing, as Instagram definitely doesn’t want to disrupt the content balance and product experience in Reels.