Instagram to be 10% of Facebook’s global ad revenues by 2017
Bearing a strong resemblance to Snapchat's Live Stories feature and Twitter's Moments, Instagram has begun testing aggregated content streams. During a test last weekend, Instagram used a video medley to show an assortments of content from Halloween. Continuing to grow in popularity; eMarketer forecasts that Instagram will account for 10% of Facebook's global ad revenues by 2017, and its global mobile ad revenues are expected to reach $2.81bn. If eMarketers predictions are correct this will mean that Instagram has higher net mobile display ad revenues than Google and Twitter.  

Taking a page from Snapchat and Twitter, Instagram is testing aggregated content streams.

This weekend, the Facebook unit invited users to “Watch Halloween’s Best Videos,” including an assortment of spooky content from other users around the country.

Encouraging a less interactive viewing experience, the video medleys took over users’ phone screens, lacking like counts and other standard engagement options.

For Instagram, the new content streams jibe with other efforts to encourage more laid-back viewing experiences. The network even recently began letting brands serve video ads of up to 30 seconds in length.

The new feature bears a strong resemblance to Snapchat’s popular Live Stories feature, which also includes curated content from around the network’s universe. Along with luring the NFL into a content distribution deal, Live Stories reportedly attracts an average audience of 20 million people every 24 hours.

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Similarly, Twitter recently rolled out Moments -- a service that surfaces timely content in clearly defined blocks. Not long after, the company started testing “Promoted Moments” as a way to monetize the service.

Instagram’s global mobile ad revenues will reach $2.81 billion -- or about 10% of Facebook's global ad revenues -- by 2017, according to a recent eMarketer forecast.

If accurate, Instagram will then have higher net mobile display ad revenues than both Google and Twitter. This year alone, Instagram will rack up $595 million in mobile ad revenue around the globe, eMarketer expects.