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Google’s TikTok rival YouTube 'Shorts' set to expand beyond India

Last Updated 02 March 2021, 10:41 IST

In the second half of 2020, when restrictions on Covid-19 induced lockdown began to ease in India, Google unveiled a beta version of the short video sharing feature 'Shorts' on YouTube. It offered a TikTok-like platform to create fun clips and share on social media.

Since then, more people have used the YouTube Shorts tools to create content and as per the official latest (February 2021) report, the number of creators has tripled and the videos have garnered a record 3.5 billion daily views. The massive figure maybe has to do with the ban on TikTok in India.

To cash in on the void left by TikTok, rival Facebook launched Reels on Instagram in late 2020 and it too has gained popularity in the subcontinent.

Now, the search engine giant Google has started to expand the YouTube Shorts to the home market US, where TikTok still holds a strong foothold. The latter has massive 80 million-plus active users in the country.

Despite the ban in Indian and other nations globally, TikTok is still expected to cross one billion userbase.

In addition to expanding the presence of YouTube Shorts in wider geography, Google has plans to roll out monetisation schemes later in the year. If fans are mighty impressed with the content, they can buy animation applause for a set amount, which will be passed on to creators, and of course, a certain part of it will be cut as a commission to the company.

For now, YouTube Shorts in the US is in beta and is limited to select creators at the start and soon will be available to all in the coming months.

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(Published 02 March 2021, 08:03 IST)

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