What Are Facebook In-Stream Ads for Reels?

In-stream ads are the Facebook version of an ad break. Instead of sitting between posts, your video plays inside someone else’s video, much like a commercial during a TV show. Meta calls the placement Facebook in-stream reels: the ad appears while people watch publisher and creator reels or approved live streams, wherever that video is playing in the app.

Where do in-stream ads for reels play?

Meta says they can be shown:

• during videos from familiar publishers and digital-first creators who tailor content to Facebook audiences, and
• in livestreams from a select group of approved partners. Livestreams from government and spiritual partners are excluded automatically.

Your ad can run before, during or after these reels. Because Meta shows them wherever video appears in the Facebook app, including Facebook Feed, the Reels tab and reels opened from Feed, the same ad may play in a full-screen player or a feed-like one. Meta says the first in-stream reels ad tends to be delivered after one minute into a video.

What is the difference between skippable and non-skippable?

Type	Viewing period before people can return to the reel
Non-skippable	Up to 15 seconds
Skippable	Up to 5 seconds

By default you can get both. To run only non-skippable ads, choose your placements manually and tick Exclude skippable ads in the Placements section of the ad set.

What video specs apply?

Spec	What Meta states
Ad length for in-stream reels	5 to 15 seconds
In-stream video length, mobile	5 seconds to 10 minutes
In-stream video length, desktop	5 to 15 seconds
Playback trigger	50% of the ad’s pixels in view; for autoplay the video must be the central feature of the page
Text and logos on 9:16 creative	Keep the top, bottom and side edges clear (safe zone)

How do you control where your ad appears?

Meta offers four brand suitability controls for in-stream ads for reels:

1. Use the inventory filter to control the type of content your ad appears next to.
2. Add publisher block lists to exclude specific publishers.
3. Set content type exclusions.
4. Set topic exclusions.

How is this different from ads on Facebook Reels?

Ads on Facebook Reels are a separate placement. Meta describes overlay ads that appear as banners on a creator’s reels, which people can skip with the X icon. Meta says post-loop ads on Reels stopped being available from November 2025, while you can still reach that placement with reels overlay ads.

FAQ

How do I select in-stream reels as a placement?

At the ad set level, open the Placements section and choose your placements manually, then select Facebook in-stream reels. Review the ad preview in Ads Manager afterwards, since Meta notes the ad may appear in a full-screen player or in a feed-like player.

Can I optimise in-stream ads for 2-second video plays?

Yes. Meta lists Facebook in-stream reels among the placements available when you choose Maximize 2-second continuous video plays as the performance goal with the Awareness or Engagement objective. That goal works with single video ads at least 2 seconds long.

Why is my long video not eligible for in-stream reels?

Meta sets the in-stream reels ad length at 5 to 15 seconds. A longer cut may still run in other placements, such as Facebook Feed, which allows much longer videos, so make a separate short edit if you want in-stream reels delivery.