Every brand marketer we speak to asks a version of the same question: is YouTube Shorts worth it, or is it just YouTube copying TikTok? This report answers it with data. We pulled together Alphabet’s own disclosures, Ofcom research, Google and brand case studies and the best independent benchmarks to build a YouTube Shorts strategy for brands that holds up in 2026.
The short answer is yes, but not for the reasons most people think. Shorts is no longer an experiment. It now earns Google as much per hour watched as traditional YouTube ads in the US, it is moving onto the TV screen, and it feeds the long form channel that brands actually want to build.
The short version
- Shorts has scale. Daily views went from 6.5 billion in early 2021 to more than 200 billion by mid 2025, and over ten million channels now publish Shorts every day.
- The money has caught up. In the US, Shorts now earns more revenue per watch hour than traditional in stream ads, so Google has every reason to keep pushing it.
- It feeds long form. Vendor data shows channels posting about five Shorts a month average 46% more views per long form video than the norm. Shorts works best as a doorway, not a destination.
- Native beats repurposed. Arla tripled ad recall lift by adding Shorts made for the feed; Wolt found a cut down TV ad was not enough.
- Treat it like a channel. The brands that win plan Shorts as recurring series, brand early, post steadily and put paid budget behind proven organic winners.
Is YouTube Shorts worth it for brands?
For most consumer brands, yes. Three things changed between 2024 and 2026 that moved Shorts from a nice to have to a core part of a YouTube plan.
First, reach. YouTube is used by 94% of UK adult internet users, according to Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025, against 56% for TikTok. Adults aged 18 to 34 spend an average of 1 hour 28 minutes a day on YouTube, more than double the time spent by 35 to 54 year olds. Shorts is how YouTube competes for the swipe, so it is where much of that younger attention now starts.
Second, audience overlap. Google cites Morgan Stanley research showing 40% of YouTube Shorts users do not use Instagram Reels or TikTok at all (US, April 2024). If your short form plan stops at TikTok and Reels, you are missing a large group of people.
Third, economics. The platform is now paid well enough to keep investing in the format, which matters for anyone deciding where to build. We cover that below.
It is not a fit for everyone. If your product needs a long explanation, or your audience is mostly older B2B buyers, Shorts will play a supporting role to long form and search. For a side by side view of the three vertical platforms, see our TikTok vs Instagram Reels vs YouTube Shorts comparison.
How big is YouTube Shorts in 2026?
Shorts first launched in India in 2020 and rolled out globally in 2021. By March 2021 it was already averaging 6.5 billion daily views. YouTube’s chief executive Neal Mohan told Cannes Lions in June 2025 that Shorts was averaging over 200 billion daily views, a figure Sundar Pichai repeated on Alphabet’s earnings call a month later and that Alphabet restated in February 2026.
YouTube Shorts average daily views, billions
The audience is just as large. Google said in July 2023 that more than 2 billion logged in users watch Shorts every month, up from 1.5 billion a year earlier. Supply has exploded too: on the Q1 2026 call Pichai said over ten million channels now publish Shorts each day.
That last number is the one brands should sit with. Ten million channels a day means the feed is crowded. Volume alone will not get you seen. A clear format, a fast start and a reason to come back will.
Is YouTube Shorts better than TikTok?
It depends on the job. Independent benchmarks still favour TikTok on views per post. Metricool’s 2026 study of more than six million videos found TikTok averages more than 32,000 views per video, well ahead of Shorts, though the sample is weighted to creators and small businesses. Shorts’ advantages are different: the link to long form, search, the TV screen and Google’s ad stack. Most brands should use both, with a different job for each.
The money: why Google is pushing Shorts so hard
For years the worry about Shorts was simple: it took watch time from long form videos that earned far more per view. That gap has closed. On the Q2 2025 call, Pichai said Shorts in the US now earned as much revenue per watch hour as traditional in stream ads, and in some countries more. By the Q3 2025 call in October he went further: in the US, Shorts now earn more revenue per watch hour than traditional in stream ads on YouTube.
“We’re seeing both the volume and the price of ads in Shorts increase, particularly in developed markets.” Philipp Schindler, Chief Business Officer, Google, July 2025
Google’s chief financial officer added that Shorts also helps gross margins, because creators keep a smaller share of Shorts revenue than of in stream revenue. Monetised creators keep 45% of their allocated Shorts revenue.
YouTube advertising revenue by quarter, US$ billions
YouTube ad revenue reached $11.1 billion in Q2 2026, up 13% on a year earlier, and YouTube revenue across ads and subscriptions passed $60 billion for 2025. Alphabet does not split out Shorts, but its executives now credit Shorts directly when they explain growth. When a platform’s owner makes more per hour from a format, it will keep improving the tools, the reach and the ad products around it. That is a safe bet to build on.
What changes in February 2027?
YouTube’s help page confirms two Shorts monetisation changes from 1 February 2027. Creators will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to share in the Shorts Creator Pool, and Shorts ads targeted to small groups of five or fewer channels will earn those creators direct revenue. For brands, the second change matters most: it makes it easier to buy around specific creators on Shorts, and it will push more creators to pitch for those deals.
Does YouTube Shorts help long form videos?
This is where most brand strategies go wrong. They treat Shorts as a separate channel with its own vanity metrics. The better model is a doorway into your long form library.
YouTube’s own data, published by Think with Google, says channels that upload both Shorts and long form see better overall watch time and subscriber growth than channels that only post long form. Ipsos research for YouTube found 59% of Gen Z watch longer versions of videos they first discover on short form apps, though that data dates from 2022.
Average views per long form video, by how many Shorts a channel posts
Metricool’s larger 2026 dataset points the same way. Channels posting around five Shorts a month averaged 8,789 views per long form video, about 46% above the average, while channels posting no Shorts averaged 4,364. The benefit disappeared at 35 or more Shorts a month. This is correlation, not proof, but it matches what we see on client channels: a steady drip of good Shorts helps, a flood of filler does not.
YouTube has also been explicit that Shorts should be original. Its October 2026 update further prioritises original content in Shorts recommendations, which we covered in our guide to repurposing long form video. Lazy clips cut from a long video, with no new hook or context, are increasingly unlikely to travel.
Shorts on the TV screen
The biggest shift of 2026 is where Shorts is watched. TechCrunch reported in May 2026 that viewers watch over 2 billion hours of Shorts on TVs every month, with YouTube describing the living room as its fastest growing screen. In September, YouTube used Made on YouTube to launch Shorts series, which let channels group Shorts into seasons and episodes that can be watched directly on TV.
In the UK, Ofcom’s Media Nations 2026 shows YouTube accounted for the largest share of in home video viewing among 16 to 34 year olds, at 23%. We looked at YouTube’s growth on the TV set in detail in our report on whether TV advertising is still worth it.
The creative implication is practical. A vertical video shown on a 55 inch screen needs bigger text, cleaner sound and a reason to keep watching when nobody is holding a phone. Series help here because they give viewers on a sofa a next episode to move to.
What works: lessons from brands that tested Shorts
There are still few independent Shorts case studies with hard numbers. Most published results come from Google or the brands themselves, so read them as directional. Even so, the same lessons come up again and again.
| Brand | What it did on Shorts | Reported result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arla Foods | Native, creator style Shorts added to long form and non skippable ads, tested with Brand Lift | 3x ad recall lift in one test (3% to 9%); awareness lift double the usual campaigns | Think with Google, Sept 2025 |
| Wolt | Three Shorts native edits with branding at 4, 9 and 12 seconds | Early branding reached 75% more unique users with the brand message; relatable humour lifted ad recall 18% | Think with Google, July 2026 |
| Sephora | Holiday gift guide run only on Shorts with seven creators | 82% relative lift in searches for “sephora holiday” | Think with Google, May 2025 |
| Urban Decay | Beauty creators made casual application videos linked to Shorts | 278% search lift; 3% higher purchase intent | Think with Google, May 2025 |
| Les Mills | Repurposed vertical social videos as Shorts inside mixed format campaigns | Click through rate up 52%, cost per acquisition down 10% | Think with Google, Apr 2023 |
All results are self reported by the brand or by Google. Uber’s Teen Accounts campaign (awareness among parents up 24%) used Shorts alongside in stream ads, so it is not a pure Shorts test.
Lesson one: make it for the feed
Arla Foods ran Brand Lift tests across several markets. When it added native Shorts, made to look and feel like creator content with vertical framing, fast pacing and popular audio, to its usual long form and non skippable ads, ad recall lift rose from 3% to 9% in one campaign. Across tests, ad recall ran two to four times higher than earlier benchmarks.
Ad recall lift in one Arla Foods Brand Lift test
Lesson two: test where the brand appears
Delivery app Wolt tested three Shorts edits with branding at 4, 9 and 12 seconds. The early branded version reached 75% more unique users with the brand message, while relatable humour lifted ad recall by 18%. Its conclusion was blunt: adapting a master film to vertical is not enough.
Lesson three: creators move search
Sephora’s Shorts only holiday campaign with seven creators produced an 82% relative lift in searches for “sephora holiday”, and Urban Decay saw a 278% search lift from creator videos linked to Shorts. Kantar’s meta analysis of 20 campaigns, commissioned by Google, found creator ads on Shorts increased purchase intent by 8.8% on average. We cover how to brief and pay creators in our creator marketing report.
Our own work points the same way. Our Formula E content has delivered more than 7 million views across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and we took Paul Ribot’s channel from 0 to 30,000 subscribers in 75 days. You can see more on our work page.
How long should a YouTube Short be?
Shorts can now be up to three minutes long, a change YouTube made in October 2024. That does not mean they should be. The best available data suggests shorter still wins on views.
Median views per Short by length band
quso.ai’s study of 108,138 Shorts found the 11 to 20 second band earned the highest median views. Metricool found average view duration has fallen to roughly 16 seconds per Short, even as Shorts views in its sample more than doubled. Our rule of thumb: make the Short as long as the idea needs and not a second longer. A product demo might need 40 seconds. A punchline needs 15.
How often should brands post YouTube Shorts?
Metricool found the best performance per post at two to four uploads a week, and brands in its sample raised their Shorts output by more than 20% year on year. That fits our own guidance in how often to post on YouTube: consistency beats volume, and a sustainable rhythm beats a burst followed by silence.
YouTube Shorts ads: how brands buy Shorts in 2026
Organic Shorts build an audience. Paid Shorts buy reach and conversions while you do it. The buying options have matured a lot since 2024.
| Buying option | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Video View Campaigns with format controls | Can run a campaign only in the Shorts feed, available worldwide since November 2024 | Cheap, efficient views and testing creative |
| Demand Gen with channel controls | Lets you serve Demand Gen campaigns specifically on Shorts (rolled out globally from March 2025) | Conversions and new customers |
| Video Reach Campaigns (multiformat) | Mixes in feed, in stream and Shorts; Google reports 54% more reach at 42% lower CPM than in stream only | Awareness at scale |
| Partnership ads and creator boost | Runs a creator’s own Short as an ad from their channel | Borrowing trust from creators |
| Organic Shorts and Shorts series | Your own channel, now with seasons and episodes on TV | Long term audience you own |
Advertain summary of Google Ads announcements from November 2024, January 2025, December 2023 and March 2026. Platform figures are self reported.
Google has also added comments on eligible Shorts ads and the ability for Shorts creators to link to a brand’s website in branded content (December 2025). In March 2026 Google said creator partnership boosts drove an average 30% increase in conversion lift on Shorts. We discussed what that means for creator deals in our YouTube new features 2026 briefing.
A word of caution on platform numbers. Almost every effectiveness figure for Shorts ads comes from Google or a study Google commissioned. Use them to shape tests, then run your own Brand Lift or conversion lift study before you move serious budget.
Building a YouTube Shorts strategy: the Advertain playbook
Here is the seven step plan we use with brands starting or fixing a YouTube Shorts strategy.
| Step | What to do | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide the job | Pick one role for Shorts: reach, discovery for long form, or conversion | One primary KPI per quarter |
| 2. Build a format | Design two or three repeatable series, not one off posts | Episodes published per series |
| 3. Brand early | Show the product or a recognisable brand cue in the first few seconds | Brand Lift ad recall |
| 4. Post steadily | Start at two to four Shorts a week, filmed in batches | Views per Short over 90 days |
| 5. Link to long form | Use related video links and series so Shorts viewers find longer videos | Long form views from Shorts |
| 6. Put money behind winners | Boost the top 10% of organic Shorts and test Shorts only campaigns | Cost per view, CPA, search lift |
| 7. Review on TV and mobile | Check every Short reads well on a phone and on a living room screen | Watch time by device |
Advertain guidance.
Two principles sit underneath every step. Brand early, because a Short can be swiped away in a second and Wolt’s test showed early branding reaches more people with the message. And hook fast, because the opening frame does more work than anything else; our guide to YouTube hooks has 25 opening lines to start from.
Shorts is the trailer. Your long form channel is the film. Brands that only make trailers never get the audience.
If you want help building a Shorts format that feeds a channel you own, talk to us.
Frequently asked questions
Is YouTube Shorts worth it for brands in 2026?
Yes, for most consumer brands. Shorts averages more than 200 billion daily views, reaches people who are not on TikTok or Reels, and in the US now earns as much or more per watch hour than traditional YouTube ads. It works best when it feeds a long form channel rather than standing alone.
Is YouTube Shorts better than TikTok for marketing?
Neither is better in every case. TikTok tends to deliver more views per post in independent benchmarks, while Shorts connects to long form video, search, the TV screen and Google’s ad tools. Most brands should run both, with different goals for each.
How do brands use YouTube Shorts for business?
The most effective brands run recurring Shorts series, put their brand in the first few seconds, post two to four times a week, link Shorts to longer videos and boost their best organic Shorts with paid campaigns such as Shorts only Video View Campaigns or Demand Gen.
How long should a YouTube Short be?
Shorts can run up to three minutes, but vendor data suggests 11 to 20 seconds earns the highest median views. Keep each Short as long as the idea needs and no longer.
Can brands make money from YouTube Shorts?
Brands rarely monetise Shorts directly. The value is in reach, search lift, subscribers and sales. Creators who meet YouTube’s rules keep 45% of their allocated Shorts revenue, and from February 2027 they will need 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days to share in the Creator Pool.
