Shortform apps to take over second spot in users time spent after Internet giants like Facebook and Google: RedSeer

• The digital ad market is expected to grow to ~10x in the next 10 years.
• India is still at a nascent stage in terms of monetization on shortform apps but is showing early adoption.
• Digital Ad revenues structure is expected to change significantly in the coming years.

According to the latest Report ‘Entertainment & Advertising Riding the Digital wave’ launched by RedSeer Consulting, the shortform space in India is set to be the second biggest segment in terms of time spent in one year after Internet mammoths like Facebook and Google.

This growth is expected to be driven by a number of factors.

Firstly, the monthly active users of the segment are expected to grow more than 2x to reach ~650 million users by CY25 clocking the second spot after television. This significant growth is largely expected to be driven by the new 300 million Internet users that will be added by 2025.

Secondly, shortform creators have grown 2x (from the tik-tok days, June 2020) and now stand at 40-45 million, mostly from smaller towns and cities. The Indian shortform apps have surged ahead in terms of creator experience. Consequently, there is an increase in user base and engagement on these platforms-

MAU is ~1.2x compared to Pre Tik Tok Ban
DAU is ~1x compared to Pre Tik-Tok Ban
Time spent is ~0.4x

Shortform content has been the biggest winner at an aggregate level, and is likely to overtake OTT video content in the coming year, as per the report. Most of the platforms have ensured stringent content compliance standards (>95%) and monetisation opportunities.

After the TikTok ban in June 2020, Indian shortform apps have come a long way. With improved robust and technological upgrades, the apps improved its performance significantly on-

• Personalisation
• Real-time feed change
• Feed change by language
• Follower Base
• Feed change by search

Digital Ad market

The digital ad market is expected to grow to ~10x in the next 10 years. Further, Indian Shortform sector can potentially take upto 20% of the digital ad market share.

The major growth drivers for this will be-

• Increasing digital consumption - Shift in time spent
• Rise of D2C or challenger brands
• Digital penetration in Tier 2+ cities creating new market and opportunities

India is still at a nascent stage in terms of monetization on shortform apps but is showing early adoption. Digital Ad revenues structure is expected to change significantly in the coming years.

There are three monetization opportunities as seen in the China market which includes-
Ads revenues, live stream gifting, livestream and commerce.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Ujjwal Chadhury, associate partner at RedSeer said, “We are reaching an inflexion point for Digital Ads journey in India. The market is set to grow exponentially over the next decade and some of the new age content platforms are best positioned to capture this growth.”