- Google testing adds short videos from TikTok, Instagram.
- Google features short videos from Trell and Tangi.
- YouTube started working on Short Videos in September 2020.
Google is testing a new ‘Short videos’ feature that will aggregate short videos from Instagram and TikTok. The decision would help the tech giant retain users who visit social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok in search of short videos, according to a TechCrunch article.
Features Confirmed
A spokesperson from Google said that only for mobile devices the ‘Short video’ process is being conducted. Meaning the test is in its early stages and restricted to a few users only. That is, for every search question, you won’t find the video carousel yet. But it could become an important tool for indexing and surfacing top video content from social media.
Over time as Google scales the product, unless, of course, the platforms want to prevent Google from doing so.
Google’s History with Short Videos
Previously this year, inside its Discover tab, Google launched the “Short videos” carousel and the current ‘Short videos’ test builds on the previous functionality. Google Discover helps users to discover valuable and relevant knowledge, appropriate to their interests, from around the web for those unaware.
The ‘Short videos’ feature from Google was previously based on gathering Trell videos. Also from Tangi and YouTube proprietary to Google. The latest test, however, also includes videos for TikTok and Instagram as well. The Search Engine Roundtable (via Brian Freiesleben’s tweet) first spotted this. The blog post showed screenshots of two videos from TikTok and one from Instagram.
Google capitalizing on Short Video Trend
Launched earlier this year, Google’s Tangi is a short video platform that hosts short videos, specifically to help people learn creative skills, such as cooking, baking, painting, etc. In the meantime, YouTube is also testing Short Videos, an early beta of YouTube Shorts launched in India in September 2020.
YouTube Shorts is also experimenting with the concept of short videos. This allows users to upload videos that last 15 seconds or less.
However, clicking on one of the short images brought the users to an online version of the social media site and not the app. Google clearly requires users once they’re finished watching the video to return to its search results page.