How Meta's Reels became a $50 billion business

Once a TikTok wannabe, Instagram’s video feature is now a hit with users and advertisers

- Meghan Bobrowsky

Five years ago, Meta's Reels was a TikTok copycat with no revenue. Now, it is set to bring in as much as Coca-Cola and Nike— and the company plans to expand to more screens in 2026.

Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced on an October earnings call that Instagram and Facebook Reels had surpassed a $50 billion annual run rate, which means that the company is on track to make that amount of revenue in the next 12 months. By comparison, analysts expect YouTube to bring in $46 billion in advertising revenue this year, and the research firm eMarketer estimates TikTok will bring in $17 billion.

Zuckerberg credited the company’s AI recommendation systems which, he said, have been delivering higher quality and more relevant content on its platforms.

“Video is a particular bright spot,” he said, noting that people were spending 30% more time watching videos on Instagram than they did the previous year.

It is a far cry from just a few years ago, when internal Meta research showed that Instagram was stumbling in its attempt to mimic TikTok. Caught flatfooted by the success of that video app, then owned by ByteDance, Instagram launched Reels in August 2020.