Instagram Impressions Removed
Meta has announced that the Impressions metric for Instagram will be fully deprecated by April 21, 2025. At the same time, a new Views metric has already been introduced.
Since both Impressions (in ZoomSphere Analytics) and Views (on Instagram) have been available to users for a while, many users have already started comparing these two metrics, which led to differences in reported numbers and confusion in performance evaluation, since these two metrics are slightly different, therefore should not be compared.
To prevent inconsistencies and ensure accurate reporting, we were forced to make this transition immediately in ZoomSphere Analytics.
What’s Changing?
✅ In Analytics:
The Impressions chart has been removed from the Profile Reach and Impressions tab, which has now been renamed to Reach, as it now only contains Reach metrics.
In the Page Posts tab, Impressions have been renamed to Views. The data for Views will be available retroactively.
The Views metric has been added to the Stories tab and will be entirely replacing Impressions by the 1st of April, 2025. However, the historical impressions data will still be available. The data for Views will be available from the 17th of March, 2025.
✅ In the Scheduler App:
The Post Performance tab has been updated, replacing Impressions with Views to reflect Meta’s latest data changes for all post types, not just Reels.
How Views Are Counted:
1️⃣ For Reels (Videos):
Views are counted as the number of times a Reel has started to play or been replayed.
This is essentially the same as Plays, which is now being rebranded as Views.
2️⃣ For Static Posts (Photos & Carousels):
Views are counted as the number of times the content appears on a person’s screen.
This means Views for photos and carousels work similarly to how Impressions worked before (i.e., every display counts as a View).
Key Takeaways:
For Reels, Views = video starts and replays.
For Static Posts (Photos, Carousels, Stories), Views = number of times the post appears on screen.
Repeated views of content will be counted as Views.
Impressions are being fully replaced by Views in Instagram Insights (but will still be available in Meta Ads Manager).
This update ensures ZoomSphere stays aligned with Meta’s reporting structure and avoids confusion caused by the differences between Impressions and Views.