Google is experimenting with the possibility of integrating a ‘Short videos’ section with the Discover section of the Google app. The software giant currently sources the content from TikTok-like short video platform Trell and Google’s own Tangi from Area 120 lab.
Twitter user Jatin Chaudhary first spotted the test. As reported by 9to5Google, the source video platform’s logo appears to the top-left corner of each video. You have the controls to hide videos that don’t match your interest.
When you click on these videos, the app will take you to your phone’s default web browser. While Trell’s content is powered by Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), the videos from Tangi are fetched directly.
For now, there’s no information regarding how committed Google is to make this a standard feature on Google app across Android and iOS. Google seems to have restricted the current rollout to a limited number of users.
Taking an educated guess, Google might partner with short video platforms to get their content onboard. Given the TikTok ban situation, this approach may help users consume all the short form content that is now scattered across different apps in one place. Since Google’s recommendations are fairly relevant, this could serve as a unified platform for short videos, similar to what the company is attempting to achieve with movies and TV shows on Google Chrome.
Google has not given up on its own version of short-form videos, though. Besides Tangi, the Mountain View giant is reportedly working to add ‘Shorts’ on YouTube by the end of this year.
