Google is the latest entity to take advantage of the Indian Government’s ban of the viral application TikTok. Google plans to introduce a new feature on YouTube called YouTube Shorts. The feature for all intents and purposes mimics the same features TikTok used to provide. The new feature will mimic many of TikTok’s most popular features, allowing users to make and post 15 second videos with built in creative tools encouraging them to add licensed music and more.
The YouTube Shorts is being bundled into the main YouTube app for Indian users, where it will appear with a prominent “create” button. The videos can also be set to music, thanks to YouTube’s access to a large library of songs that it says will continue to grow over time. India will be the first country where YouTube Shorts will be launched. YouTube said “Music for these videos will be available through in-product music picker feature. The picker currently has 100,000s of tracks, and we’re working with music artists, labels, and publishers to make more of their content available to continue expanding our catalogue (sic.)”
TikTok was enjoying an unrivalled popularity in India as it became a means to keep boredom at bay during the nationwide lockdown which was imposed in light of the COVID-19 virus. TikTok amassed more than 200 million users in India and this is mostly due to the cheap internet plans rolled out by Jio Telecommunications, which made the internet accessible to every person even in the remote corners of India.
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However, the Indian government announced that it would ban 59 Chinese applications in which TikTok was one, along with WeChat, Helo, Cam Scanner and many others. The ban was imposed citing data security and concerns about data being shared with the Chinese Government. This left a huge void in the instant video sharing space and Facebook was the first to cash in on it by releasing Instagram Reels. Even Instagram Reels does not have any standalone application but is instead a feature in the Instagram app where it is promoted heavily.
Neither Instagram nor YouTube have tried to clone TikTok’s patented search algorithm and are instead relying on their own discovery algorithms to push content to the users. As TikTok continues to be banned more and more players will look to cash in on the massive void left by the viral app. Facebook and Google are the first major players to try to take a chunk of TikTok’s user base. It will be interesting to see how YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels will perform in the future.
The post TikTok Ban Paves The Way For YouTube Shorts appeared first on Startup Stories.
Author: Sampath Pavan Kuppili
Source : https://www.startupstories.in/latest-news/tiktok-ban-paves-the-way-for-youtube-shorts
Date : 2020-09-16T05:20:45.000Z