YouTube Shorts Expands Video Length to Three Minutes
YouTube Shorts will now allow creators to upload videos up to three minutes in length — as the company takes on TikTok’s domination in terms of short-form video.
In a blog post published on Thursday, YouTube announced several updates for its short-form video platform YouTube Shorts.
Notably, creators will now be able to upload videos up to three minutes long starting on October 15. The maximum video length was previously 60 seconds.
“This was a top requested feature by creators, so we’re excited to give you more flexibility to tell your story,” YouTube says in the blog post.
“This change applies to videos that are square or taller in aspect ratio, and won’t affect any videos you uploaded before October 15. And we’ll be working to improve recommendations for longer Shorts in the coming months.”
The company also says it’s enhancing the Shorts player, introducing new templates, and launching a dedicated Shorts trends page for mobile users.
YouTube has launched a new Shorts trends page on the smartphone app, allowing users to see what’s popular in their country.
YouTube Shorts users will soon be able to preview comment highlights directly from the Shorts feed, without needing to navigate to the comments section.
Additionally, YouTube Shorts is rolling out templates that enable creators to easily join the latest trends, pair their clips with popular sounds, and add their own unique touches. To use this feature, creators will simply need to tap “Remix” on a Short and select “Use this template.”
In the coming months, users will also have the option to access YouTube content straight from the Shorts camera, making it easier to remix clips from their favorite videos.
A few weeks ago, YouTube also announced that it will begin integrating Google DeepMind’s Veo generative AI video model into YouTube Shorts later this year. The company says that this will allow creators to change their video backgrounds or publish stand-alone video clips.
There will also be the option for YouTube users to customize how much they want to see Shorts in their own feeds. The platform is introducing an option to “Show Fewer Shorts.” YouTube users can select the setting from the three-dot menu in the upper right of any Shorts grid in their Home feed and they will temporarily be shown fewer of these videos.
YouTube’s Transformation into TikTok
YouTube has been vying for a stronger foothold in the short-form video space, directly challenging TikTok’s dominance.
In the past year, YouTube has launched a new tool that allows creators to turn their existing longer videos into “Shorts”.
It has also allowed content creators using YouTube Shorts to monetize their short-form videos.
TikTok has also gradually been embracing long-form content and competing head-on with YouTube. In January, the company was spotted incentivizing creators to start posting horizontal, longer videos.
In February last year, TikTok announced it would be extending the maximum video length from three to 10 minutes. Before that, the limit was 60 seconds after initially expanding from 15 seconds.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
