YouTube is concerned that the proliferation of short video clips, known as “Shorts,” could negatively impact its platform, according to a report published by the Financial Times, top YouTube executives discussed the “risk of disappearance” of long-form videos, which constitute the majority of the company’s revenue, during recent strategic meetings.
Internal platform data indicates that content creators are producing fewer long videos, leading to a decline in their popularity, changes in user behavior and content creators affect advertising revenue on the platform, longer videos allow for more ads, with a higher click-through rate on e-commerce ads, according to the report.
Advertisers also currently prefer shorter content for product placements, it’s worth noting that YouTube has experienced a decline in ad revenues over the past three out of four quarters.
The platform has begun taking strict measures against ad-blocking tools, which some users rely on for an ad-free viewing experience, additionally, YouTube Premium subscriptions have recently seen price increases.
YouTube insists that Short videos are designed to complement all other formats used by content creators, rather than compete with them, the platform offers various forms of content, including podcasts, live streams, music videos, and even television shows, among others, YouTube also allows users to create and view short video clips called “Shorts,” which compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels.
