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Over the past year, the most downloaded app has been TikTok. Not Clubhouse (although it comes close), but TikTok continues to dominate both Android and iOS with its various clips. Some of these include little tips and tricks, many are meme-based, but it’s still one of the biggest time wastes there is.
Google and the YouTube team recognized that there’s an opportunity here. Since YouTube is as massive as it is, YouTube Shorts were introduced, offering your favorite creators (and anyone really) to create TikTok-like videos. In short, these are 15-second videos that can be combined with other clips, and you can record music while adjusting the video speed.
Over the past few months, YouTube Shorts has been made available in select countries like the U.S. But as of this week, Google confirms that YouTube Shorts are officially available (via The Verge) in”more than 100 countries”.
What’s a bit surprising is that Google is still considering YouTube Shorts to be in a “beta” status, despite this rollout. However, that’s not stopping the company from putting this TikTok competitor into the hands of as many potential users as possible.
Google is also trying to get as many creators “going” as possible, as the company announced the YouTube Shorts Fund last month. This is a $100 million pool that will be rewarded to select Shorts creators every month. What makes this even more interesting is that you don’t have to be a regular creator, and don’t need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program in order to qualify.
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