YouTube Shorts Advertising Perks Up

Is it possible that YouTube has figured out how to sell Shorts to advertisers? On a call with investors in parent Alphabet, executives indicated the monetization of YouTube Shorts is showing signs of improvement. That’s good news for creators (and Alphabet shareholders) who have seen advertisers pay far less for YouTube Shorts than longer videos, as we reported here. 

Executives said the monetization rate of Shorts in the U.S. compared to in-stream viewing (meaning ads that run before or during longer-videos) has more than doubled in the last 12 months, including a 10 point sequential improvement in the first quarter alone.