YouTube Shorts, a TikTok clone is running ads now

YouTube is testing advertisements on Shorts, its short-form video feature that competes with TikTok and Instagram, Google’s chief business officer told investors on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: YouTube logo at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo/File Photo (REUTERS)

YouTube is testing advertisements on Shorts, its short-form video feature that competes with TikTok and Instagram, Google's chief business officer told investors on Tuesday. 

The video-sharing site introduced Shorts in 2020 and has been slow to add commercials, which it runs on the rest of its content. But the company has begun experimenting with app-install ads and other promotions, according to Philipp Schindler. “While it's still early days, we're encouraged by initial advertiser feedback and results,” he said on the earnings call for Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company. 

In its first-quarter earnings report, the company posted YouTube ad-revenue growth of 14%, falling short of analyst expectations. The company said it saw a drop in direct response ads, like app-install campaigns. Google reported that there were now 30 billion daily views of YouTube's Shorts.