NEW DELHI : Regional languages and affordable smartphone devices are the top factors driving content consumption and creation on Google owned streaming platform YouTube in India. With 265 million active users, India is one of the biggest and fastest growing markets for YouTube globally.

“In India, a lot of people film their YouTube content on their mobile phones unlike mature markets such as United States where people have high-end devices. Clearly, a lot of people are coming on YouTube through mobile devices in this country both from creation and consumption standpoint," said Marc Lefkowitz, head of YouTube creator and artist development, Asia Pacific (APAC) on the sidelines of the launch of first Women To Watch workshop which hosted over 700 creators in New Delhi.

With cheap data and affordable smartphones a big userbase has come online which is comfortable in their local language leading to a meteoric rise in the creation of regional content creation as well as consumption.

“A lot of growth that we are witnessing is coming from smaller towns as well as villages. I keep repeating that the language of YouTube is one’s mother tongue today. We are witnessing fast paced growth in the local language content," said Satya Raghavan, director, content partnerships, YouTube in India.

YouTube claims that content on its platform is heterogeneous and offers far more greater engagement than the likes of short video platforms such as Bytedance Ltd owned video-sharing app TikTok.

“People are consuming social media or short video platforms as fast/slow as their thumb can move. YouTube tends to be much more immersive. Users know the kind of content they want and the algorithm is designed in a way to offer them customised recommendations. These are subtle differences between the two platforms," added Raghavan.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via

Click here to read the Mint ePapermint is now on Telegram. Join mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated