Alphabet Inc's YouTube to launch TikTok-like product

Alphabet Inc's YouTube to launch TikTok-like product

YouTube

Alphabet Inc's YouTube is set to roll out its version of social media rival TikTok -- a new short-form video service called Shorts.

The feature will be enabled within its video-sharing platform.

YouTube's entry into the short-form video service space coincides with TikTok's ban in one of its biggest market, India, following the country's escalating tensions with China.

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YouTube's new product will let users record short mobile-friendly vertical videos and then add special effects and soundtracks pulled from a music library.

YouTube will first test the feature in India over the next few days and then expand to more countries in the coming months, it said in a blog post on Monday.

The announcement also comes as Oracle Corp and China's ByteDance team up to keep TikTok operating in the United States, beating Microsoft Corp in a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale.

The new product will compete with Facebook Inc's Reels and TikTok.