YouTube: Shorts has 1.5 billion monthly users

YouTube reports that its Shorts video feature has 1.5 billion monthly users. If that figure is correct, then YouTube has overtaken its competitor TikTok. ByteDance’s video app had approximately 1 billion monthly active users in September 2021.

The video platform tells TechCrunch that Shorts causes users to watch longer videos as well. Channels that make regular videos and Shorts have more subscribers on average, according to the platform. Those subscribers also watch the longer videos on the channel.

“Long content continues to be the best way for creators to connect with their audiences,” said Tara Walpert Levy, YouTube’s vice president of the Americas. “But Shorts is an exciting new way for creators to showcase themselves and their portfolio to a new audience.” However, Techcrunch points out that the company did not share figures on average viewing time. Because of this, it is not clear whether the vice president’s claim is correct.

It is striking if the feature has actually caught up with TikTok in terms of monthly users. Shorts was released as a beta in September 2020, while TikTok became available in September 2017. Nevertheless, it is expected that the video app will also reach the milestone of 1.5 billion monthly users this year.