Long story short, YouTube should start to worry and think about how to enhance its monetization algorithms and copyright rules to make them more content creators-friendly. If previously, the company could dawdle over-optimization of their service, soon it could be a far too costly affair as a new and potentially dangerous competitor arises.
Instagram will be launching its new video hub, IGTV, on June 20, which will “offer a dedicated space featuring scripted shows, music videos and more in vertically oriented, full-screen, high-def 4K resolution,” according to TechCrunch. And regardless of what you could say about the doubtful qualities of vertically oriented video, it is highly likely that the new service is going to be immensely popular.
For instance, the previous service that had been launched by the company, Instagram stories, exploded. Currently, more than 300 million people use Stories every day and this number grows. Therefore, it would not be strange if IGTV succeeds as well.
The emerging hub is such a benefit for a competitive market, such a headache for YouTube, and such a great brand new opportunity for businesses.
Currently, Instagram has 800 million active monthly users and it is estimated that the network will be reaching 1 billion users by the end of June. Therefore, the video service could provide a powerful marketing platform. Instagram seems to be aware of it and will equip content creators with a possibility to add links to their videos, which can be easily accessed by swiping up on a video. This feature will definitely be used to drive traffic to a company’s site.
It is quite difficult to speculate on how exactly IGTV is going to operate. However, it is already known that the Instagram video section will provide algorithmic, personalized curation and a narrower set of sources than Youtube’s one. As follows, it will be easier for people to find the content they enjoy. The luckiest creators or companies who will manage to get a comfy niche in the Instagram video hub as soon as possible will benefit from it significantly.