• by Colin Kirkland , August 17, 2023

Instagram is testing a new ad display for its short-form video product Reels, according to digital ad expert Barry Hott. The multi-ads format compiles a selection of related brands onto a unified screen that Reels users will see between posts.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Hott wrote on X. “4 ads sharing one single screen between IG Reels.”

“This is multi-advertiser ads but I didn't know about this rolling out for IG Reels yet,” Hott continued. “Can’t find documentation on it.”

While this ads format would be a first for Reels, Instagram already experimented with automated multi-advertiser ads last October, launching them on its main feed.

“When a person expresses commercial intent by engaging with an ad, we deliver more ads from other businesses that may be of interest,” the platform stated in its original blog post. “We observed that adding multi-advertiser ads to ad campaigns drove improved efficiency in incremental conversions per dollar spent.”

Multi-advertiser ads are also intended to help people compare similar products from multiple businesses in one space. In addition to Instagram's main feed, and potentially Reels, the ads format is accessible on Facebook via the feed, video, and Stories.

Meta tells advertisers that multi-advertiser ads may increase their ad’s exposure, but advertisers have the option to opt in or out.

Without word from Meta, it is unsure as to when the ads unit will become available on Reels.