While one major signature of TikTok when it first came out was shorter videos, the company is now looking to extend the length of these videos to rake in more revenue. From the once couple-of-seconds videos, TikTok is testing out videos up to ten minutes in length.
TikTok's Move to Increase Maximum Video Length
According to the story by 9to5Mac, in 2021, TikTok made a major announcement extending its initial maximum length from just one minute to a total of three minutes per video. Ever since August, of 2021, the social media giant has started beta testing out extensively for a potential five-minute video format to a number of groups of users.
As of the moment, there have even been tests of different 10-minute videos towards other smaller groups. To add, WIRED shared some information that a TikTok representative gave them after they surveyed about half of its entire user base.
The Effect of Long Videos as Per the Survey
As per WIRED, the survey showed that users find videos that extend over a minute "stressful to watch." The article by 9to5Mac, however, says that "the five-year-old platform doesn't think its users are right."
The big question is if TikTok users clearly prefer shorter videos, why would the company decide to extend them? As per the publication, the motivations regarding the change are "clearly about increasing revenue."
Industry Expert Reveals that the Move is to Increase Revenue
Basically, the longer the video, the more ads can be sold within the video as well. As per Karyn Spencer, an industry expert that formerly worked with Vine, the five-minute videos would help increase their average watch time by potentially a few more seconds.
With the time extension, traditional advertisers would then feel like they have more freedom and to add, Spencer noted that "tech is always looking for as much revenue as possible." With that, the change comes at a time when the company's competitors have just recently released different forms of their own short videos.
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TikTok Competiton on Short Video Content
To note, YouTube has released its Shorts, Instagram has released its reels, and Snapchat has also released its Spotlight. Each of these TikTok competitor platforms max out their videos at just one minute tops.
Short-form videos have seen an immense increase in popularity ever since they started launching. Conviva, a video analytics company, recorded that a significant 12% of YouTube videos last year were only less than a minute in length.
With a massive one billion users around the world, TikTok clearly has been doing right when it comes to their business so far. In addition, WIRED assures users that would much rather look at shorter videos will still get their dedicated section where all the videos are within a certain shorter time frame.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
