YouTube Shorts surpasses 5 trillion total views in less than two years

YouTube CEO reveals a new milestone for Shorts and a new way to help creators monetize their videos.

What you need to know

• YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki revealed that the creator of the shorts has amassed 5 trillion views.
• In addition to the $100 million fund announced last year, she’s also rolling out new ways to help creators make money with Shorts.
• The service is testing the integration of shopping functionality with Shorts.

YouTube Shorts debuted only a year and a half ago, but thanks to a growing craze for short videos, creators using TikTok-style features have racked up more than 5 trillion views across multiple platforms, including Android phones and laptops watch.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced the new milestone for Shorts in a blog post published Tuesday. She also revealed that the $100 million fund YouTube announced last year for Shorts creators is now available in more than 100 countries. Last August, YouTube began paying creators between $100 and $10,000 a month based on viewership and engagement.

Most of the fund’s beneficiaries appear to be small creators. Wojcicki said that more than 40 percent of creators who received payments last year were from different types of creators who were not eligible to join the YouTube Partner Program.

This year, the Google-owned video-sharing service plans to explore new ways to help creators make money from their little content. Wojcicki said YouTube will help build sponsored content by matching Shorts creators with certain brands through a program called BrandConnect.

YouTube also wants to integrate shopping into Shorts, building on its existing program that allows viewers to browse and buy featured products that accompany videos. Additionally, the service will expand its remixing capabilities, allowing you to create Shorts using audio from YouTube videos, provided anyone can copy them.

In addition to these methods, YouTube is also looking at expanding its monetization options for creators, including the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It also plans to roll out gifted memberships later this year.