YouTube Shorts is a relativly new service from YouTube.com (Google's Alphabet holding) that allows users to create and watch short videos up to 60 seconds long. It is similar to other popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. Short videos have been gaining a lot of popularity lately, so it's no wonder that the king of internet videos, YouTube, wants to take advantage of this trend.
Where do you play YouTube Shorts?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/
What's great about YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts is for anyone who wants to express themselves creatively, discover new content, or have fun with their favorite creators. Some of the benefits of this service are:
- You can use a variety of tools to edit your videos, such as music, filters, text, stickers, and more.
- You can access a large library of songs from YouTube’s music partners.
- You can reach a global audience of billions of YouTube viewers.
- You can earn money from your Shorts if you are part of the YouTube Partner Program.
- You can watch Shorts from different categories and hashtags on the YouTube app or website.
History and development YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts was launched in India in September 2020 as a beta version, and then expanded to more than 100 countries in July 20213. It is still in development and YouTube plans to add more features and improvements over time.
YouTube Shorts monetisation
Monetizing YouTube Shorts is a way to earn money from your short videos on YouTube. There are two main ways to monetize YouTube Shorts:
- Ads: Starting from February 1, 2023, YouTube will share revenue from ads that are viewed between videos in the Shorts Feed with eligible partners who have accepted the Shorts Monetization Module. This module is part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to meet the minimum requirements of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months to join. You also need to follow the YouTube channel monetization policies and the advertiser-friendly content guidelines¹. The amount of revenue you can earn from ads depends on various factors, such as the number of views, the location of the viewers, and the type of ads.
- Brand deals or sponsorships: Another way to monetize YouTube Shorts is to work with brands or sponsors who are willing to pay you for promoting their products or services in your short videos³. This method does not require you to be part of YPP or accept any module, but you need to have a large and engaged audience that attracts brands or sponsors. You also need to follow the YouTube paid product placement and endorsement policies and disclose any paid promotion in your videos.
These are the main ways to monetize YouTube Shorts as of now, but YouTube may introduce more features and improvements over time. You can also use YouTube Shorts to drive traffic to your other monetized videos or platforms, such as your website or online store.
YouTube Shorts app
There's currently no separate app for watching YouTube Shorts, but they're included right in the main YouTube app. It's the second tab. When you click it, the videos start playing immediately.
YouTube Shorts format
The format of the videos is fully customizable for playback on mobile devices. The videos are in portrait format so that they fill the entire screen. Of course, it looks a little different on a computer monitor, but it's still good.
The controversy around YouTube Shorts
The YouTube Short is, of course, a source of some controversy. Often because it offers quick-turnaround entertaining content rather than something really informative and interesting that would move people on. As a result, many people block YouTube Shorts.
How to hide or block YouTube Shorts
It's surprisingly easy to do, and in several ways. Here Wikihow.com break down 5 very usable ones.
How to dowload YouTube Shorts
Our YouTube Shorts dowloader can do that, and it's really reliable! Plus, it's also easy and free. Get any YouTube Shorts video you want!
YouTube Shorts summary
As with all content - there are good videos, there are mediocre videos and there are bad videos. Everyone will have a slightly different opinion based on what they're interested in. Either way, it's a very smart move by YouTube.