Placements & Networks

Reels Placements vs Right Column Ads: Video Feed or Sidebar

In short: Both can appear in Meta's Advantage+ placement mix without you ever choosing them directly, but they sit at opposite ends of attention and cost. Reels puts full-screen sound-on video between organic clips people are actively watching. Right column puts a small static image beside the desktop feed, seen peripherally and rarely acted on directly. Reels earns real attention at a real cost; right column buys cheap peripheral impressions that mostly work as a retargeting reminder. Choose Reels when you have video built for the feed, and let right column ride along cheaply for retargeting rather than building creative for it specifically.

By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026

Reels Placements

Vertical video ads inserted between short entertainment clips in the Reels feeds on Instagram and Facebook, playing with sound by default.

Ads here serve inside an endlessly scrolling short-video feed, so they compete directly with organic entertainment and get skipped with a flick. Sound-on, creator-style video built for the first second performs best. Advertisers often exclude Reels after seeing high impressions and low click-through, but the placement is usually cheap enough that its assisted contribution outweighs what last-click reporting shows.

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Right Column Ads

Small ad units in the desktop Facebook sidebar, shown beside the feed rather than inside it, at very low cost per impression.

This is desktop-only inventory with a small image and little text, so it buys impressions cheaply but rarely drives considered action. It survives mostly as a low-cost retargeting reminder. The mistake is leaving it on in an automatic placement mix and reading its impressions as real reach, then blaming the whole campaign for frequency and click-through that came from one shrinking desktop surface.

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Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

	Reels Placements	Right Column Ads
What the viewer is doing	Actively watching a stream of short video, attention is on the screen.	Reading their desktop feed, ad sits in peripheral vision beside it.
Format and size	Full-screen vertical video with sound on by default.	A small image with a short headline, sized to fit a sidebar.
Device availability	Mobile and desktop, wherever Reels appears.	Desktop only - there is no mobile equivalent of this surface.
Cost per impression	Moderate, priced like competitive feed video inventory.	Very low, among the cheapest impressions in the system.
Realistic job for this placement	Driving real engagement and view-through for video creative.	Cheap frequency for retargeting people who already know the brand.
Common misread	Cutting it after weak click-through without checking assisted value.	Reading its impression count as meaningful reach rather than cheap filler.
Where it reports	Under Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels in the placement breakdown.	Under Facebook Right Column, desktop only, in the placement breakdown.
What it costs you when wrong	Lost assisted reach if the placement is cut too aggressively based on click-through alone.	A skewed frequency and reach number that makes the rest of the campaign look worse than it is.

What actually separates them.

Reels requires creative built specifically for a full-screen sound-on video feed, while right column only ever shows a small static image, so the same asset rarely serves both well.

Right column exists on desktop only, while Reels serves across mobile and desktop, so the device mix in your reporting looks very different between the two.

Right column's low cost per impression comes from low attention, not efficiency, while Reels' cost reflects genuine competition with organic video content.

Advantage+ placements let right column absorb a large share of impressions cheaply without much scrutiny, which inflates frequency and reach metrics without inflating results.

Reels rewards creative investment because the format's attention is real, while right column rarely rewards creative investment because the format's attention is minimal by design.

Which one should you use?

Use Reels Placements when

You have vertical video with a strong opening second, built to survive being watched between organic clips.
You're running an awareness or consideration objective where view-through and reach matter alongside clicks.
You can produce or adapt creator-style content rather than repurposing a static product ad.
You're willing to judge performance with assisted or lift-based reporting instead of click-through alone.

Use Right Column Ads when

You want cheap frequency to keep a retargeting audience aware of your brand between purchases.
You already have a static image asset that doesn't need a dedicated build for this placement.
Your primary placements are elsewhere and right column is riding along inside Advantage+ placements rather than being deliberately chosen.
You're comfortable treating its metrics as background noise rather than a signal to actively optimize toward.

Common questions.

Why is my right column impression volume so high but conversions so low?

Right column impressions are cheap because the format gets little real attention - people are reading their feed, not the sidebar next to it. Treat the volume as background frequency for retargeting rather than a placement you're actively trying to convert with.

Should I build separate creative for right column ads?

Generally no. It's a small static format that rarely justifies a dedicated build, and it usually performs adequately with whatever static image asset you're already running elsewhere. Save creative effort for placements like Reels where format-specific creative actually changes outcomes.

Is Reels worth the cost compared to a cheap placement like right column?

They're not really substitutes - right column buys cheap peripheral impressions and Reels buys real, if competitive, attention inside a video feed. If your goal is genuine engagement or view-through with video creative, Reels earns its higher cost; if you just want cheap frequency, right column does that job fine.

My reach and frequency numbers look inflated. Could right column be the cause?

Yes, that's common. Because right column impressions are so cheap, Advantage+ placements can serve a large volume of them with little effect on outcomes, which pads reach and frequency numbers without moving results. Check the placement breakdown before concluding the whole campaign has a frequency problem.

Or stop choosing between them.

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