If you thought YouTube shorts is the one place where you wouldn’t see ads, you were wrong. TikTok has already introduced advertisements in shorter video formats. Now YouTube is doing the same.
It’s no secret that tech companies blatantly copy features from each other. It is also no secret that the TikTok wave is undeniable. TikTok has single-handedly managed to bring short videos to almost all social media apps — Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more. Now we can see YouTube integrating vertical ads just like TikTok to give advertisers more exposure.
In a recent blog post from Google, the company talked about how most people today watch a combination of long-form videos and shorts. While users are used to seeing ads on longer video formats, they have been absent from short videos until now. With the new feature, advertisers can broadcast ads on shorter videos as well.
The new YouTube feature will use machine learning algorithms to automatically convert horizontal ads into vertical ads. For example, the same ad will be visible to someone watching a long video in landscape mode or a short video in portrait mode.
Google claims that this is a beneficial move for brands and marketers who do not have the resources to create multiple ads for multiple platforms. Unsurprisingly, viewers are not happy with this move.
In the recent series of updates, YouTube has also made it possible for creators to make short video replies to specific comments. These moves reinforce the fact that YouTube is increasingly competing with TikTok for the same market.
