Impressions and Reel Plays Deprecation and Introduction of Views Metric
Updated
Starting April 21, 2025, Instagram will deprecate several Impressions and Reel Plays metrics and introduce new Views metrics at both the post and account levels. This article outlines these changes and shares Sprinklr’s recommendations to help you smoothly transition your reporting practices.
Deprecation of Impressions and Reel Plays Metrics
Instagram will deprecate the following metrics starting April 21, 2025. These metrics will continue to populate until April 20, 2025 -
Post Level Metrics:
Instagram Business Post Impressions
Instagram Business Post Impressions Trend
Instagram Business Post Initial Reel Plays
Instagram Business Post Initial Reel Plays Trend
Instagram Business Post Total Reel Plays
Instagram Business Post Total Reel Plays Trend
Instagram Business Post Reel Replays
Instagram Business Post Reel Replays Trend
Account Level Metrics:
Instagram Business Total Impressions
Instagram Business Weekly Total Impressions
Instagram Business 28 Days Total Impressions
Data Availability After Deprecation
For posts published before July 1, 2024: New data for Impressions will continue to populate.
For posts published on or after July 1, 2024: We will retain all historical data up to the deprecation date.
Introduction of New Views Metrics
Instagram now uses the Views metrics to report content visibility. While Views serve a similar purpose to Impressions, they are calculated differently. To ensure reporting accuracy, always compare Views with data in the native Instagram interface. Below is a list of all the new view metrics introduced at the post and account level:
Post Level Metrics:
Instagram Business Post Views
Instagram Business Post Views Trend
Account Level Metrics:
Instagram Account Daily Views
Instagram Account Daily Views by Follow and Product Type
Instagram Account Daily Views by Product Type
Backfill Details:
Instagram Business Post Views (lifetime) will be backfilled starting August 2024.
Instagram Business Post Views Trend will not be backfilled. Data will be available only from the point of integration.
Impact on Reporting
These changes affect how you measure content visibility across all Instagram media types, including Photos, Reels, and Stories. Here's how your reporting may be impacted:
Widgets, dashboards, and custom metrics that rely on Impressions or Reel Plays will gradually lose relevance, especially for content published after July 1, 2024.
Trend analyses using the new Views metric may show gaps due to the lack of backfilled historical trend data.
Metric values may differ: Views are conceptually similar to Impressions/Reel Plays but follow a different aggregation method, so reported figures will not be an exact match.
Any downstream dependencies (alerts, benchmarks, performance monitoring, etc.) relying on deprecated metrics may require reconfiguration.
Sprinklr Recommendations
To prepare for this transition:
Start migrating from Impressions and Reel Plays to the new Views metric across all reporting assets such as widgets, dashboards, custom metrics, and analytics workflows.
Avoid comparisons between historical Impressions/Reel Plays and new Views metrics, as their definitions and calculations defer.
Plan migration early to ensure reporting continuity and reduce last-minute changes before April 21, 2025.