Google reportedly plans to counter TikTok with upcoming YouTube ‘Shorts’

Unlike TikTok, Shorts will not be a standalone app.

What you need to know

• YouTube is said to be working on a TikTok rival called "Shorts."
• "Shorts" will apparently be available as a feature within the YouTube mobile app.
• It is expected to become available by the end of this year.

Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, which was released worldwide three years back, is among the most popular social networking apps currently, with more than 3 million downloads a day. Seeing the app's meteoric rise, Google had reportedly considered acquiring TikTok competitor Firework late last year. Now, a new report from The Information, YouTube is planning to release a rival to TikTok, called Shorts. Shorts will be available as a feature inside the YouTube app and include a feed of brief videos, similar to TikTok.

Users will be able to take advantage of YouTube's vast catalog of licensed music to find songs to use as soundtracks for their videos. The report claims YouTube Shorts is "the most serious effort yet by a Silicon Valley tech company to combat the rise of TikTok." Shorts is expected to be rolled out before the end of the year.

With Shorts, YouTube could be successful in making sure it doesn't lose too many viewers interested in short-form videos to TikTok. In 2018, YouTube did something similar with the Stories format, allowing creators to interact with their fans using "stories" similar to Instagram and Snapchat.

Even with its vast stable of content creators, however, YouTube may find it extremely difficult to actually give TikTok a run for its money.

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