Facebook acquired Instagram back in 2012 for $715 million. Since then, Instagram has grown to be a major business opportunity for Facebook, and it may also be considered to be the most popular social network for some people in today’s age.

It’s no secret Facebook makes a lot of money from Instagram — but the company has never shared the exact revenue generated by Instagram to date. However, according to a new report from Bloomberg, Instagram reportedly generated more than a quarter of Facebook’s revenue in 2019.

In other words, Instagram reportedly brought in $20 billion in ad revenue last year. And although that might be surprising to some, what’s more interesting is that Instagram’s revenue is actually higher than YouTube’s $15 billion in 2019.

Now of course, this is not an official number, so it may not be completely accurate. But at the end of the day, Instagram generating $20 billion in revenue should not be a surprise. Facebook said Instagram had more than a billion user back in 2018, and Instagram has a ton of ads that are fairly well placed and aren’t too intrusive for the most part.

But more importantly, brands — especially small businesses — love spending money on Instagram ads, and it’s actually a pretty good model for both parties involved as small businesses do tend to get a lot of sales through Instagram because of the company’s integrated Shopping platform. So yes, this $20 billion revenue for Instagram is only going to increase. The app is more popular now than ever before, and despite all the Facebook controversies, this growth is not likely to stop anytime soon.

Tagged with Facebook, Instagram