YouTube Shorts Will Now Be Monetized as it Fights TikTok
From 2023, content creators using YouTube Shorts will be able to monetize their short-form videos as the Google-owned platform battles TikTok.
Shorts will become part of the YouTube Partner Program meaning creators who hit certain metrics will be able to get a share of the advertisement money generated from their videos.
YouTube will compete with TikTok and hope to offer better monetization options than the Chinese app in a bid to attract the best content creators.
“It is the largest expansion we’ve done in several years creating new ways for creators to join the program,” Amjad Hanif, vice president of product management and creator products, said in a staff meeting, as reported by the New York Times.
However, Shorts is not getting the same share that traditional long-form YouTube creators get. As reported by The Verge, Shorts creators will get 45 percent of revenue instead of the usual 55 percent. The reason for this is that extra money will go to licensing music that can be used on short-form videos. The company believes that this represents a better deal than creators are getting elsewhere.
The new monetization method for creators will be joined by existing monetization features such as creator funds, shopping, and tips. But this new avenue represents a serious upgrade on previous offerings.
With traditional long-form YouTube videos, an advert plays before it starts and the channel the viewer is watching gets a share of the monies generated from that ad. But a short-form video is a different beast as inserting an advert is not as straightforward. This is why YouTube is launching the program next year as it tries to work out the details.
YouTube recently launched a new tool that allows creators to turn their existing long-form videos into Shorts. The Edit into a Short tool lets video-makers select 60 seconds from an existing video and convert it.
The longstanding video platform clearly has an eye on TikTok’s success and is attempting to muscle in on that market. It is not the only tech giant doing so, Instagram’s attempts to become more like TikTok have been well documented with the Facebook-owned company facing major backlash and the project believed to be failing.
