iWorld
Instagram’s creator marketplace expands, Tests smarter recommendations
Mumbai: From branded content to partnership ads, Instagram is one of the best places for brands and creators to collaborate — and today, we’re excited to announce how we’re making it easier to work together. In 2022, we began testing the creator marketplace in the US, a new destination where brands and creators can more easily connect and collaborate around partnership opportunities. Since then, we’ve introduced new features and onboarded thousands of creators and brands in the US to the creator marketplace.
Today, we’re excited to take another step forward and announce the planned expansion of Instagram’s creator marketplace to eight new markets. Over the next few weeks, we plan to invite creators and brands based in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, India and Brazil to join Instagram’s creator marketplace. Chinese export brands will also be invited to connect with onboarded creators in countries outside of China.
Brands have told us it can be challenging to source creators for partnership ads. That’s why we’re excited to begin testing in the US our brand new, machine learning-based recommendations that use Instagram data to help brands more easily discover creators who are the best fit for their campaigns. Eligible brands can access these recommendations over the coming months on Instagram’s creator marketplace in Meta Business Suite.
Instagram’s creator marketplace can help brands easily find relevant creators for any kind of collaboration, but one of the most powerful is partnership ads. Partnership ads (formerly known as branded content ads) allow advertisers to amplify content with a creator or other partner’s handle to scale their collaborations. Partnership ads are the most performant and transparent way for advertisers and creators to run ads together and Instagram’s creator marketplace helps brands discover creators to partner with.
Here’s how it works.
Join Instagram’s Creator Marketplace
Brands join Instagram’s creator marketplace in Meta Business Suite. Creators join from their professional dashboards in the Instagram app. Creators can indicate brands and interests relevant to them. Creators can also create a portfolio to highlight what makes them unique.
Find the Right Match
To help match the right creators and brands for campaigns, we’re testing new custom, machine learning-powered creator recommendations for each brand. Brands can also search for creators, filtering for creator and audience attributes. They can also see a list of creators who have expressed interest and check out creator portfolios.
Connect & Collaborate
Creators receive brand messages in a dedicated Partnership Messages folder at the top of the Primary tab. Brands can reach out to creators directly or create and send a project to multiple creators outlining the branded content or partnership ad opportunity. Creators can review the details and requirements of the opportunity, as well as the rate, all within the Instagram app.
Create & Launch
Once brands and creators agree, they are ready to create. Advertisers can boost organic Instagram content as partnership ads, including branded content with the paid partnership label, or they can create new partnership ads in Ads Manager. Please visit the Help Center for instructions on how to use the creator marketplace or set up partnership ads.
Instagram’s creator marketplace helps brands find the right creators and helps creators get discovered by brands. We’re excited to continue evolving the creator marketplace and partnership ads to offer even more ways for brands and creators to connect, partner, and grow.
iWorld
Netflix cuts jobs in product division amid restructuring
Layoffs hit creative studio unit as leadership and strategy shifts unfold.
MUMBAI: The streaming wars may be fought on screen, but the latest plot twist is unfolding behind the scenes. Netflix has reportedly begun laying off several dozen employees from its product division as part of an internal reorganisation, according to a report by Variety. The cuts are believed to have primarily affected the company’s creative studio unit, which works on marketing assets such as in app trailers, promotional visuals and live experience content for the streaming platform.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees impacted.
According to the report, the layoffs were not tied to employee performance. Instead, the restructuring eliminated certain roles while other employees were reassigned to different teams within the organisation.
The roles affected are understood to include designers, producers and creative specialists responsible for marketing and brand experience initiatives.
The job cuts come as Netflix adjusts its leadership structure and reshapes its product and creative teams. Last month, Elizabeth Stone was promoted from chief technology officer to chief product and technology officer, giving her oversight of product, engineering and data operations across the company.
Earlier, in December 2025, Netflix also appointed Martin Rose as head of creative for global brand and partnerships, a move seen as part of a broader restructuring of the company’s brand and product functions.
Despite the layoffs, Netflix remains one of the largest employers in the streaming sector. The company is estimated to employ around 16,000 people globally, with roughly 70 percent of its workforce based in the United States and Canada. In 2023, the company reported approximately 13,000 employees, indicating that its headcount had grown significantly before the latest restructuring.
The workforce changes arrive at a time when Netflix is navigating a shifting financial and strategic landscape in the global entertainment industry.
The streaming giant recently secured $2.8 billion in additional cash after receiving a breakup fee from Paramount Skydance following its withdrawal from a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Netflix co chief executive Ted Sarandos explained that the company had evaluated multiple scenarios during the negotiations but chose not to match the competing offer once it learned that a higher bid had been submitted.
Netflix had capped its offer at $27.75 per share and ultimately stepped back rather than pursue Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition deal, which included a personal guarantee.
Sarandos also cautioned that the financing structure behind the Paramount Skydance transaction could have ripple effects across the entertainment industry.
According to him, the debt heavy deal could trigger significant cost cutting, with David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, expected to eliminate about $16 billion in costs and potentially cut thousands of jobs as part of the integration process.
For Netflix, the current restructuring appears to be part of a broader attempt to streamline operations while continuing to invest in product, technology and global content even as the streaming industry enters a new phase of consolidation and financial discipline.
