YouTube’s take on TikTok is its own beast.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed that YouTube Shorts, its short-form video format that apes the experience of TikTok, is averaging 70 billion daily views. The videos are watched by an average of 2 billion signed-in users each month, he added.
The performance of shorts has helped drive engagement and revenue for YouTube, which is a smaller, but still significant, part of Google’s business. Alphabet, Google’s parent, posted its third-quarter financial results on Tuesday, and reported that YouTube ad revenue rose to $7.95 billion, up 12.5% from a year ago.
While the executives shared few stats around the success of NFL Sunday Ticket, Pichai noted the positive feedback he’s gotten. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said the top request the company gets from users is the ability to choose their own games in multiview, which the company has previously said isn’t possible yet for technical reasons.
“Overall, the teams are working hard to build a good experience,” Schindler said on the call.
Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat noted that YouTube saw a stabilization of ad spending from advertisers, with brands driving the growth.
In total, Alphabet posted a third-quarter profit of $19.69 billion, or $1.55 a share, compared with a year-ago profit of $13.9 billion, or $1.06 a share. Revenue rose 11% $76.7 billion.