Short video platforms monetization to touch $19Bn

Short video platforms in India could witness an exponential growth in terms of user base with growing monetization over the next few years. A recent market report by Redseer claims that the industry could monetize its users to the level of $19 billion by 2030.

The report says the monetization volumes of all short video platforms in India could be valued at $150 billion as on date though over the next eight to ten years the opportunity for monetization in this space also includes digital advertising, video commerce, and live gifting could grow 127x.

As of June 2022, digital ad spends in short format video platforms across India account for only 1% of all digital advertisements in India – which includes web advertisements, legacy video platforms such as YouTube, and new generation short and live video platforms, accounting for approximately $100 million in total digital ad spends on short video platforms.

After Bytedance-owned TikTok got banned in India in June 2020, brands such as InMobi’s Roposo, Bolo Indya, Sharechat’s Moj and others entered the short video space, while global majors such as Instagram introduced Reels to cash in on the opportunity. Bolo Indya has since pivoted to live video instead of short videos, under Bolo Live. Roposo, meanwhile, has largely pivoted to live commerce.

RedSeer has forecasted that these platforms would double their monthly active user base to 600 million by 2025 and 850-900 million users by 2030. Currently, almost 59% of India’s short video users are from rural and semi-urban towns, with VerSe Innovation’s Josh and ShareChat’s Moj being the top used apps.