YouTube Shorts Touched 30 Billion Views Per Day

YouTube Shorts videos are garnering 30 billion daily views, which is a 4x increase from last year.

In the first quarter of 2022, daily views of YouTube Shorts films surpassed 30 billion, a fourfold increase over Q1 2021.

In addition, YouTube has confirmed that it is currently testing advertisements in Shorts, allowing artists to monetise short-form films for the first time.

This was announced at Alphabet's quarterly earnings call during the first quarter of 2022.

The 4x rise in views did not influence the decision to insert adverts in Shorts. Rather, it's a result of YouTube failing to meet its income objective.

To be sure, YouTube made a lot of money last quarter, even surpassing the amount made in the first quarter of 2021.

YouTube must make up for missing its aim, earning $6.87 billion instead of $7.51 billion, in order to placate shareholders.

YouTube's response to reaching new heights in income is Ads in Shorts. As a result, creator incomes may reach new highs.

The following are the highlights from Alphabet's Q1 2022 earnings call addressing YouTube Shorts.

YouTube Confirms That Ads Will Be Added To Short Films

Ruth Porat, Alphabet and Google's CFO, confirmed that advertisements are being tested in YouTube Shorts:

"As Shorts viewing climbs as a percentage of total YouTube time, we're seeing a modest impediment to revenue growth." We're experimenting with short-form monetization, and early advertiser feedback and results are promising."

Short-form advertising would allow YouTube Partner Program authors to make more money on the site.

Shorts are now the sole option to generate money through YouTube's Shorts Fund. The Shorts fund has set aside $100 million to compensate artists for viral material.

The Shorts Fund pays all creators, even those who aren't part of the YouTube Partner Program.

In actuality, the YouTube Partner Program was not used by 40% of the producers that got a reimbursement from the Shorts Fund in 2021.

It's unclear whether the Shorts Fund will stay in place after the commercials are more widely distributed.

YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok Earnings Potential

For creators, ads might greatly improve the value proposition of YouTube Shorts.

Using the exception of sponsorships and retail sales, there are few ways to make money with short-form video on the internet.

TikTok, like YouTube, has a fund that compensates producers for successful video.

TikTok is less forthcoming about its payouts, while creators have expressed dissatisfaction with the income share.

Green argues that YouTube does a better job of compensating content producers, implying that TikTok's creator fund isn't the ideal approach to compensate individuals for their labour.

Once advertisements in Shorts are available to everyone, it will be fascinating to watch whether any prominent TikTokers go to YouTube.