Breaking Down The Battle Between YouTube & TikTok

This week’s biggest news – YouTube is returning as the title sponsor for VidCon Anaheim 2023. Just a year after TikTok was chosen to sponsor the biggest conference for creators, marketers, and fans, YouTube takes the reins back.

Its return comes on the heels of what could be a pivotal step in its short, short-form video history. Next month, it will launch the highly anticipated Shorts revenue-sharing program, where creators can monetize their Shorts through ads. This is an excellent step towards building long-term monetization for creators across short-form videos. However, there may be some disappointment once initial revenue kicks in due to the complicated split between creators, music rights owners, and YouTube.

Despite similarities to TikTok’s Pulse feature, where creators can earn money through ad revenue sharing, YouTube’s Shorts program appears to be a more comprehensive offering. In TikTok’s case, only creators with the top 4% performing videos on a daily basis are eligible for monetization. Additionally, some creators have expressed dissatisfaction with the program due to the requirement to grant TikTok the right to sublicense their content without receiving royalties.

But, the battle between YouTube and TikTok goes well beyond short-form video monetization. In the past months, we’ve witnessed the tech giants go head to head in several arenas.

Here’s a breakdown:

YouTube Goes Short, TikTok Goes Long

With an established presence for long-form video, many of YouTube’s new feature launches are Shorts related. In recent months, it has added a number of TikTok-like features, including Voiceovers, Comment Stickers, Green Screen, and Remix.

Conversely, TikTok is finding its way into more YouTube territory. Through tests and launches of video scrubbing thumbnails, a full-screen, horizontal mode, increased character limits for video descriptions, and 10-minute video uploads, it’s making a case for creators to share longer-form video content like YouTube.

Foray Into Podcasting

Regarding podcasting, YouTube is farther ahead thanks to the recent launches of a dedicated podcast hub, expanded Audio Ads, and support for podcast-focused branded content campaigns in BrandConnect, its influencer marketing platform. According to Edison, YouTube is the second most popular destination for podcasts.

Today, TikTok doesn’t officially support podcasting, but that could change quickly. This week, it was discovered to be testing a native podcast feature, where users can listen to the audio of a video via a new ‘Podcast’ page while the app is in the background. There have also been sightings of a trademark for TikTok Music that indicate it plans to support podcasts and digital radio content along with music.

With TikTok’s algorithm and the growing popularity of video podcasts, there is a great deal of opportunity for podcasts. Many podcast creators have found success on the platform by uploading key moments of episodes and often racking hundreds of thousands to millions of views.

TikTok’s powerful algorithm, paired with an added ability for podcasters to link video clips to full-show episodes could be quite appealing to creators as it would solve one of the biggest issues with podcasts – discovery. With podcasts sometimes being as long as multiple hours, this could drive up user engagement and keep users from going elsewhere to find full-length episodes.

Beyond Mobile Screens

Both platforms are expanding their presence beyond mobile and trying to reach the 2 billion plus screens that aren’t mobile devices. YouTube has been making its content available outside of these since 2017 with YouTube TV, but 2022 saw it take even bigger steps.

It brought Shorts to connected TVs (e.g., smart TVs, streaming devices, and gaming consoles), launched Primetime Channels, and inked a deal with the NFL to be the exclusive provider of NFL Sunday Ticket. These have a creator tie-in as well, providing creators with expanded viewership and new content opportunities.

As for TikTok, its videos are making their way to an array of screens. It was the first to bring short-form videos to TV Screens with its TikTok App. It also had recent partnerships with companies like Loop TV and movie theater Cineplex that distribute TikToks in various public spaces. With the latter, curated sound off TikTok videos can be watched at restaurants, retail stores, salons, and healthcare offices, and with the former, TikTok videos are packaged together as a customizable two-minute segment shown during the pre-show of a movie.

What To Make Of All This?

Chances are there won’t be a clear winner between YouTube and TikTok. As much as we love to say one platform is better than the other, it’s become clear that winners can change at any time. Just like a heavyweight boxing match, YouTube and TikTok will continue to go back and forth, all while pushing others. This will lead to a marathon of new features, developments, and initiatives that will benefit all – creators, advertisers, and viewers.