YouTube will start adding a watermark to Shorts videos; Another attempt to copy TikTok

Google says it’s introducing a new feature that automatically adds a watermark to Shorts downloaded from YouTube Studio. The change is being made to ensure that “viewers can see that the content you’re sharing across platforms can be found on YouTube Shorts” if the content is posted to another short-form platform.

“If you’re a creator who downloads your Shorts from YouTube Studio to share across other platforms, you’ll now find a watermark added to your downloaded content,” Community Manager Sarah says, in the announcement.

Whether you watch short-form videos on YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, you’ve probably noticed some creators who re-upload their content from TikTok.

It’s usually pretty obvious, as TikTok has long applied a watermark to any video downloaded from the app with the platform’s logo and the creator’s username. With the new update, YouTube Shorts will adopt the same watermark practice.

At this time, it’s not entirely clear what these new watermarks will look like, but it seems same to assume it will be a slightly animated version of the Shorts logo, much like TikTok’s watermark. YouTube has said that this change will roll out “over the next few weeks on desktop, and we plan to expand to mobile over the coming months.”

After TikTok exploded in popularity, other internet companies realised that short-form videos had won over the younger generation and had quickly developed new products to rival the platform.

Talking about cloning TikTok, last month, Instagram announced that it was shifting its focus to reels videos instead just photos. which Instagram Influencer Kim Kardashian, the woman with the most followers on Instagram, reacted to, saying “Make Instagram Instagram again, … Stop trying to be TikTok.”

In response to users criticism, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, “I want to be clear: We’re going to continue to support photos. It’s part of our heritage.”