YouTube Shorts may end up eating the entire YouTube business, worries employees

YouTube launched its short-form video section called Shorts in 2020 in India, following the ban of TikTok in the country.

The short video format was later released globally in 2021, where it quickly gained immense popularity.

While YouTube's aim in launching Shorts was to boost business and stay up with rivals like TikTok and Meta, it now seems like the feature is bringing concern to its core business of long-form content.

According to a report by the Financial Times, YouTube employees are concerned that YouTube Shorts could kill the company's core business of long videos, which apparently brings in the majority of the company's revenue.

The Alphabet-owned platform saw a boost in viewers and content since the launch of Shorts, but this boost also drew away its audiences from the traditional long-form content, according to the publication.

YouTube is facing a dilemma as short-form video content grows in popularity. Short-form videos are more popular with audiences because they are quick and easy to consume.

This is why TikTok and Instagram Reels have been so successful and YouTube also introduced Shorts.

However, YouTube generates its revenue from ads, and short-form videos don't allow for as many ads. Hence YouTube is not able to generate as much profit from Shorts as it does from long-form videos.

Meanwhile, YouTube is still trying to figure out how to generate more ad revenue from Shorts. 

However, in the meantime, content creators are uploading fewer long videos, which is causing concern among YouTube staff. 

Google is trying to keep its YouTube audience users engaged, but it also needs to figure out a way to make money.