For the first time, Instagram contributes over half of Facebook's US ad revenues

The forecast: For the first time, Instagram will make up over 50% of parent company Facebook's $50.30 billion in net ad revenues in 2021.

Dive deeper:

• Instagram's US ad revenues are growing faster than Facebook's overall, but ad growth for both platforms is driven by similar factors, including more ecommerce and retail ads and more investment into direct response video ads.
• We expect Instagram will grow 52.0% in 2021 to reach over $26 billion in US ad revenues after growing 40.4% in 2020.
• Political issues could affect Instagram, following criticisms of the platform's impact on teens' mental health. That said, elevated levels of digital ad spend across social media will continue to drive Instagram's ad revenues in a positive direction for Facebook at large.
• Instagram's rapid growth has been driven in large part by the versatility of both Instagram Stories and Instagram Feed as used by both advertisers directly and by influencers.

Looking ahead: Instagram's share will to continue to rise at a rapid pace, making up 60.9% of Facebook's forecasted $65.21 billion in US ad revenues in 2023.