© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
“Creators in India are doing more than just sharing stories – they’re exporting Indian culture to the world,” said Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, at the company’s flagship event Brandcast in New Delhi on Wednesday. Mohan revealed that over 11,000 Indian channels have more than a million subscribers, while recalling that when he started at YouTube nine years ago, only 11 Indian channels had over one million subscribers.
YouTube Shorts, which was launched in India in September 2020, has achieved trillions of views in three years. It has emerged as one of the most favoured platforms among Indian consumers. The online video-sharing platform’s growth in India goes beyond mobile devices, as over the years it has emerged as one of the most streamed applications on Connected TVs with viewership growing by four times in the last three years.
“Indian creators are making videos inspired by local trends that go on to define global culture. YouTube is number one in reach and watchtime in India. And we just passed a huge milestone. Shorts, which we first launched in India, now has trillions of views here,” Mohan said while highlighting the platform’s success in the Indian market.
Mohan in his opening address shared that the growth of the platform in India has been backed by the growing creator ecosystem making it the top platform in terms of viewership and reach among ad-supported online video platforms. The explosive growth of Shorts in India also showcases the platform’s ability to deliver content to the increasingly changing preferences of Indian consumers.
With the phenomenal growth of Shorts and Connected TV, at the event, YouTube also introduced a suite of new ad formats that have been designed to enhance user engagement and drive results for brands. For Connected TV the platform has introduced Pause ads for non-intrusive viewer engagement during content pause on the big screen. Another feature branded QR codes goes beyond YouTube to premium broadcasters on OTTs via DV360 offering more interactive experiences.
When it comes to Shorts, the platform has introduced features like interactive stickers for Shorts ads, interactive gestures like double-tap to like and swipe left for landing pages, and animated image ads automatically generated from existing images. With these new ad formats, YouTube aims to tap into the growing influence, cultural impact, and interactive potential for Shorts and Connect TV at the same time addressing the changing needs of advertisers.
Over the years, YouTube has overcome the barriers of language and has become the first point of contact for many Indian internet users. Besides, YouTube’s strategy in India shows its larger goal of giving everyone a voice. “YouTube gives creators a home to share their stories with the world. And they’re creating connections with fans that span continents and cross oceans,” he said.
In his address, Mohan asserted that YouTube remains committed to ongoing innovations. Buoyed by the exceptional growth, the CEO stated that he is excited about what is coming next. Mohan said that everything from creation to fandom was about to get even bigger, alluding to the addition of generative AI capabilities to the platform. The CEO said that the platform has rolled out AI tools that can fuel human creativity. In July they rolled out Dream Screen, a feature that allows users to create AI-generated backgrounds for Shorts just by typing an idea.
“This is just the beginning. We’ll continue to develop AI technology that builds on our track record of responsibility and pushes the boundaries of creative expression at a scale we can only dream about right now,” he said.
