Alphabet's YouTube to launch TikTok-like product

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.

Alphabet Inc's YouTube is rolling out its version of social media rival TikTok, a new short-form video service called Shorts, enabled within its video-sharing platform.

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. (https://bit.ly/3ho1q36) YouTube's new product, which will compete with Facebook Inc's Reels and TikTok, will let users record short mobile-friendly vertical videos and then add special effects and soundtracks pulled from a music library.

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. 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.