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YouTube Shorts eyes TikTok competition with 3.5 billion daily views in India

10:05 AM Jan 27, 2021 | Team Udayavani |

New Delhi: YouTube Shorts — the video-sharing website’s quick clips meant to compete with TikTok — are racking up 3.5 billion views a day during beta testing in India, the platform’s head said Tuesday.

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Susan Wojcikci explained the feature in a note laying out her 2021 priorities.

“So far, videos in our new Shorts player – which helps people around the world watch short videos on YouTube – are receiving an impressive 3.5 billion daily views!” she said.

“We’re looking forward to expanding Shorts to more markets this year.”

YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, unveiled Shorts in mid-September, describing the videos as “a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less.”

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The feature, directly integrated into the existing YouTube interface, is currently only available in India as part of development work.

The new format is seen as a way for Google to compete with Gen Z-favorite TikTok, which currently has 700 million users worldwide.

Former president Donald Trump had threatened to ban TikTok — owned by Chinese group ByteDance — from the United States when he accused the company, without formal proof, of spying on behalf of Beijing.

Facebook-owned Instagram responded to TikTok’s popularity with their own short video format called Reels last August.

And in November, Snapchat launched Spotlight, a public feed of content produced by users.

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