TikTok’s 10-minute videos could hurt YouTube on the small screen

TikTok’s extension of video limits could harm YouTube’s usage on the small screen, industry experts say.

Yesterday, the social media company extended the limit of videos from three minutes to 10 minutes.

Natalie Giddings, CEO at influencer marketing agency Hoozu CEO, says the move from TikTok will help it attract growth from a new user base.

“The app's concentration on very short video no doubt contributed to its enormous growth and take-up amongst certain audiences,” Giddings tells AdNews.

“The move by TikTok to longer videos will surely attract growth from an entirely new user base and evolve the content styles published on the app.”

Giddings says the extension could help it claw at long-form video audiences, creeping into YouTube’s space.

“Where this impacts YouTube, I believe, is in owning the tiny screen,” Giddings says.

“TikTok is almost all mobile traffic. Whereas only 22% of YouTube users are accessing the site via mobile. Audiences will crossover with ease and with new formats allowing for more ads, there is no doubt in my mind this threatens YouTube's ad revenue.”

Giddings notes that a significant percentage of YouTube search volume is “how-to” content.

She adds that “how-to” content, which is already popular on TikTok, could spike even more on the app with longer videos allowed.

“A few Aussie creators really nail how-to style content on TikTok. For example,

“But there is only so much you can show in one to three minutes. That mirror table project for example is split into Part One and Two. Publishing over a series of videos is very common, as trying to capture the process into that short format is tough.”

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