Given TikTok’s massive success, other platforms — e.g., Amazon, Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube — have responded by repeatedly attempting to copy the short-form video app.
But is it even a good strategy? At YouTube, some senior staffers reportedly have their doubts.
YouTube’s answer to TikTok is Shorts: videos up to 60 seconds long that users can create and upload with their phones, replete with in-app editing tools.
Since launching in 2021, Shorts has gained 2B+ users, but some insiders worry that it’s come at the expense of YouTube’s long-form content, per The Financial Times.
Longer videos are more lucrative for YouTube as they:
Meanwhile, creators — who receive 45% of net revenue for Shorts compared to 55% for longer videos — may not care because they’re quicker and easier to make, and brands both like and are willing to pay for them.
Maybe not if it wants to keep up with consumer tastes, especially those of Gen Z and millennial users. But it might not be all bad.
After three consecutive quarters of declining ad revenue, sales rose 4.4% to $7.7B in Q2.
And as 9to5Google points out, YouTube has more than just long-form video and Shorts, diversifying its podcast, music, and TV offerings (e.g., YouTube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket).
… as easy as they are to watch, may also serve as a gateway to other content, per McKinsey & Co.
A video that Shorts can never replace: This 10-hour crab rave.