Matthew Choo

Honest reviews and real opinions — no sponsored fluff. I test gadgets, smart home tech, and apps so you know exactly what you’re buying. 20 years in market research means I read the data, not the marketing copy.

2 minute read

Uncertainty on mobile app changes direction

Uncertainty on mobile app changes direction

Created with ChatGPT

Surprised? Maybe no

It is known that TikTok is getting popular over time, even Trump wishes to put it into the USA inventory. In this digital space that heavily relies on “eyeball” viewership for demand for ad revenues, YouTube is likely facing a great challenge in ad growth forecasting and planning for mitigation efforts.

Why do I say uncertainty in Mobile?

1. Most entertainment consumption today is on a Smartphone

Do a quick recall of your past week’s video consumption, you could be surprised that your TV (if you still have one) was not turned on once. Check around with your parents or the elderly 70+, you may notice they, too, are mainly using smartphones as their video device.

2. Consumers’ attention span is decreasing rapidly

Fewer people watch videos for “want to learn”, more people just “want to get entertained”. Short-form videos, less than 90 seconds, work like a charm for this purpose. When the video doesn’t give you a dopamine spike (happiness drive), swipe up your smartphone to find one that does.

3. YouTube’s foundation was built on long-form videos

Many long-form videos are educational and have great engagement over time, serving as a great long-tail revenue source for content creators.

From a different perspective, this long-form monetization is a cost of paying content creators. Are these assets depreciating? Is YouTube already doing balance sheet refinement?

By making long-form videos “like” harder, is YouTube driving content creators to create more short-form videos to compete with TikTok?

4. Mobile UI optimization is a quick way to explain changes

A smartphone screen is smaller than a Laptop, PC, and tablet. It is easy to claim the need to optimize limited space for a better viewing experience.

Currently, these changes are only observed on the smartphone app (Android). I don’t have an iPhone with me. Can you help me validate?

THE CHANGE:

In the past, when you clicked on a video to play it, the** LIKE button** would be right there. No longer.

I normally like to click the video title to read the **description **before clicking LIKE. Now it’s **no longer **there either.

You now have to click the ⛛ arrow button on the right of the video TITLE to find the LIKE button.

PS: YouTube shorts still stay nicely at the bottom right of the video.

5. 20:80 Rules for decision making

Changing a small part **of a mobile application impacts the viewing reach of a **large majority of the YouTube audience. It makes sense from a business decision perspective.

Same time, video viewers care less about this change. **Content creators **are likely more concerned about this revision.

Am I concerned?

Yes, but not just from a monetization perspective. Short-form videos, while great for entertainment, are a format that doesn’t encourage active brain usage, training, or even memorization. It’s very destructive for young children.

Is there a future for high-quality video content?

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