YouTube on Thursday started rolling out an early version of its Shorts quick-clip feature in the United States, ramping up its challenge to TikTok.

The popularity of YouTube Shorts soared during testing in India, and it has been racking up more than 6.5 billion views a day by people tuning in overall, according to product lead Todd Sherman of the Google-owned video service.

"We're introducing our YouTube Shorts Beta to the United States starting today, as we continue to build the experience alongside our global community," Sherman said.

"We plan to introduce more features as we continue to build Shorts alongside creators and artists."

YouTube is also working on ways for people to make money from audiences at Shorts, according to Sherman.

The new service is the latest to challenge the fast-growing Chinese-owned TikTok which has faced scrutiny over its ties to the Beijing government.

Netflix early this month added a "Fast Laughs" feature to its iPhone app, serving up comic clips in rapid fire, in a move taking on the popular video app TikTok.

Facebook-owned Instagram responded to TikTok's popularity with their own short video format called Reels last August.

And in November, Snapchat launched Spotlight, a public feed of content produced by users.

gc/rl

YouTube

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Chinese video platform Bilibili eyes up to $3.2bn in Hong Kong listing
Beijing (AFP) March 17, 2021
Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili is looking to raise up to $3.2 billion in a second listing in Hong Kong, the company said Wednesday, becoming the latest Chinese firm to seek a foothold in the city. Bilibili, which is Nasdaq-listed, is selling 25 million shares as part of the offering, at a maximum price of HK$988 ($127.2) per share for the part of the deal reserved for Hong Kong retail investors. The offering initially comprises 750,000 shares for retail investors, with the rest for inst ... read more