- By Henry Faulkner Brittany
- June 27, 2022
YouTube announced a 100M fund for the best YouTube short videos on Tuesday. The fund will be paid to the most popular creators on its nascent TikTok competitor, Shorts.
“The Shorts Fund is just the first step in our journey to build a long-term monetization model for Shorts on YouTube,” the company said in a blog post. YouTube added the fund will be launched in the coming months.
Most of the time, Google-owned YouTube tries to increase its user and creator base for its short-form video product, which is the company’s answer to mobile-first social media competitors like TikTok, Snap, and Instagram’s Reels.
YouTube is up-to-date on its mobile platform to use a designated creator fund for trial and court-influenced individuals.
In its first-quarter earnings report, Google-parent Alphabet said YouTube brought in $6.01 billion in advertising revenue during the quarter. That’s up nearly 50% on a year-over-year basis from $4 billion.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company’s earnings call that Shorts is garnering 6.5 billion daily views globally. The company declined to provide more recent statistics for global and U.S. user bases. YouTube Shorts videos launched to all U.S. users earlier this month, after launching in beta at the beginning of the year.
The company said it will distribute the $100 million creator fund beginning in the coming months and through 2022.
YouTube creators or anyone is eligible to participate in the offer by creating “unique” Shorts that “delight” the YouTube community,” according to the blog post. YouTube said it’ll reach out to thousands of creators every month who received the most engagement and views. It’ll also ask YouTube creators to share feedback on the platform.