Google is bringing Shorts to the Play Store. In addition to curated recommendations, the Google Play Store will also show the YouTube Shorts series, The Play Report.
This video series will be shown in addition to the editorial content, such as monthly picks, New on Play, and teacher approved program to assist users in discovering and downloading new apps.
The Play Report showcases the best apps and games on Google Play, featuring expert voices, which include Googlers and YouTubers, covering trending content and hidden gems for users to discover.
These videos will be displayed at the top of the Play Store in a carousel format, as shown, with the name of the app highlighted at the bottom of each vertical thumbnail. It seems to replace promotional carousels and also features an install button at the bottom.
Google is testing this new method to showcase popular apps and games that are often overlooked, as well as trending ones, starting with a pilot with users in the United States. If you are not able to view “The Play Report” today, these videos will also be shared on Google Play’s social media accounts, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
While Google does not explicitly say that The Play Report is Short, these videos do seem inspired by Shorts.
YouTube’s “Short” problem
Shorts have been garnering more and more views as time passes, but YouTube veterans see this as a problem for its core business, the long-form videos, as it tries to take on TikTok and Instagram.
Google announced that over 2 billion monthly logged-in users are watching YouTube Shorts, up from 1.5 billion in 2022. However, the popularity of Shorts risks hurting YouTube’s core, long-form video business, according to the Financial Times.
YouTube has been investing in creators and incentivizing them to make exclusive content to support Shorts, which was designed to complement, not compete with, other formats. Although YouTube is still figuring out how to earn more ad revenue from Shorts, which has been declining. In Q2 2023, Google reported $7.67 billion in advertising revenue for YouTube, up 4 per cent from last year. Google had an overall positive quarter, with growth in ad and cloud revenues.
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