YouTube Shorts Hits 30 Billion Views Per Day

YouTube Shorts videos receive 30 billion views per day, 4x more than last year.

The first quarter of 2022 saw YouTube Shorts videos viewed by 30 billion people per day, an increase of four times compared to Q1 2021.

YouTube also confirmed that it is now testing ads in Shorts. This will allow creators to monetize their short-form videos finally.

This information is available in Alphabet’s quarterly earnings calls for Q1 2022.

The 4x increase in views is not the reason for the decision to place ads in Shorts. YouTube’s revenue target has prompted the decision to place ads in Shorts.

YouTube generated a lot of revenue in the last quarter, surpassing even Q1 2021.

YouTube failed to reach its goal of earning $6.87 billion instead of $7.51 billion. The company must make up the difference to please shareholders.

YouTube’s solution to revenue growth is Ads in Shorts. Creator earnings could also reach new heights.

These are the highlights from Alphabet’s Q1-2022 earnings call.

YouTube Confirms That Ads Will Soon Be Available

Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s CFO and Google’s Head of Finance, confirms that ads are being tested in YouTube Shorts.

“We are seeing a slight headwind in revenue growth as Shorts viewership increases the proportion of total YouTube time. We are currently testing monetization for shorts, and early feedback from advertisers is encouraging.

Advertisements in Shorts will allow YouTube Partner Program creators to make more money on YouTube.

YouTube’s Shorts Fund is the only way to make money from creating Shorts. For viral content, the Shorts Fund allocates $100 million.

Even if they are not part of the YouTube Partner Program or the Shorts Fund, all creators can be paid through the Shorts Fund.

40% percent of the Shorts Fund 2021 payouts went to creators who weren’t part of the YouTube Partner Program.

It is unclear if the Shorts Fund will be retained after ads are distributed more widely.

Earnings Potential YouTube Shorts Vs. TikTok

YouTube Shorts creators may be able to get more value from ads.

The short-form video has very few options for making money online, except for merchandise and sponsorships.

TikTok, like YouTube, has a fund that pays creators for their popular content.

TikTok pays less transparency about its revenue, but creators are unhappy with their split.

Here’s @SuperSaf’s tweet about revenue sharing. He has over 400,000 followers on TikTok.

He refers to a YouTuber, Hank Green’s video, which is a bit of a video essay that explains how TikTok rewards creators.

Green argues that YouTube pays creators more for content. TikTok’s creator funds aren’t the best way for people to get paid for their work.

It will be interesting for everyone to see if any TikTokers are uploaded to YouTube after the ads in Shorts go live.