And the three big players?

而三大巨頭呢？

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

TikTok、Instagram Reels 和 YouTube Shorts。

The next few years, it will be billions of dollars being poured into these platforms, trying to increase their reach, trying to increase the value for advertisers.

在接下來的幾年裡，將會有數十億美元的資金被投入到這些平台，試圖增加它們的影響力並為廣告商提升價值。

So, let's compare them and see which one is winning over users so far and which one might come out on top.

那我們來比較它們，看看目前是哪項服務贏得使用者青睞、何者可能脫穎而出。

TikTok was the first of the three to burst onto the scene, but before TikTok, there was Vine, a popular short video service offered by Twitter.

TikTok 是這三者中第一個突然出現的，但在 TikTok 之前，還有 Vine，一個由 Twitter 提供、大受歡迎的短影片服務。

Vine was one of the first short video platforms to really grab the attention of young creators.

Vine 是首批真正引起年輕創作家注意的短影片平臺之一。

After Twitter discontinued Vine in 2017, it created a big gap in the market that was prime for TikTok to exploit.

在 Twitter 於 2017 年終止 Vine 服務後，它在市場上創造了一個大缺口，讓 TikTok 有了善加利用的機會。

TikTok enjoyed rapid growth in places like the US and India.

TikTok 在如美國、印度等地都享受到快速的成長。

And by February 2019, the app had been downloaded more than a billion times on Apple iOS and Android, according to app analytics site Sensor Tower.

根據應用分析網站 Sensor Tower 數據指出，截至 2019 年 2 月，這個應用程式已在蘋果 iOS 及安卓系統被下載超過 10 億次。

But in 2020, the narrative started to change.

但在 2020 年，這個陳述開始出現變化。

America and other countries went into lockdown because of the coronavirus.

美國和其它國家都因為新冠肺炎而進入封鎖狀態。

People started spending more time on TikTok and, all of a sudden, it seemed like the scrutiny on TikTok also increased.

人們開始花更多時間在 TikTock 上，而對於 TikTok 的審查也突然地增加了。

President Donald Trump voiced concern over the possibility that user data on TikTok could be shared with the Chinese government through the app's parent company ByteDance.

川普總統表示了疑慮，認為 TikTok 上的使用者資訊可能透過該服務稱為字節跳動的母公司與中國政府共享。

We're looking at TikTok; we may be banning TikTok; we⏤

我們正在審視 TikTok、可能會禁用 TikTok、我們——

He launched a lengthy back-and-forth with TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance that never really reached resolution during his presidency,

他發起了與 TikTok 和中國母公司字節跳動的來回對談，這個過程漫長卻從未在他的任期間達成共識，

but had a really huge destabilizing effect on the app's position in the US.

但這對於該應用程式在美國的地位有了極大的撼動。

At the time, TikTok officials said that user data was held in servers in the US and Singapore and wouldn't be shared.

在當時，TikTok 高層表示，用戶資訊都被保存在美國和新加坡的伺服器中且不會被分享。

In June 2020, India decided to ban TikTok.

到了 2020 年 6 月，印度決定禁用 TikTok。

That's important because it presented a gap for rivals like Facebook and Google's YouTube to try to offer their own products in the market.

那很重要，因為它提供了一個缺口，讓像是 Facebook 和 Google 旗下的 YouTube 等競爭對手試圖在市場上提供自己的產品。

And sure enough, in late 2020, Facebook and YouTube launched their own short video services.

果不其然，Facebook 和 YouTube 都在 2020 年底推出自己的短影片服務。

Snapchat also entered the mix with Spotlight, which offers a daily pool of more than 1 million dollars to users who create the most entertaining Snaps.

Snapchat 也透過 Spotlight 加入此行列，每天提供超過一百萬美元的獎金，用以獎勵創造最有趣短片的用戶。

Instagram and YouTube already had large built-in audiences, and TikTok had primed people to want this kind of short-form video.

Instagram 和 YouTube 本身已經有大量的固定使用者，而 TikTok 也讓人們開始想要這種短版影片。

When Instagram and YouTube started rolling out their own services, they took off pretty quickly.

當 Instagram 和 YouTube 開始推出他們自己的服務時，很快就成功了。

Meta hasn't said how many monthly users interact with Reels,

Meta 並沒有點明每個月有多少使用者會利用 Reels 互動，

but Instagram passed two billion monthly active users last year, and in its April earnings call, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said,

但 Instagram 去年的月活躍使用者超過 20 億大關，而在他們四月的季度電話會議中，執行長馬克・祖克柏說：

"Reels already makes up more than 20% of the time that people spend on Instagram."

「Reels 這個服務已經佔據用戶在 Instagram 花費時間的 20% 以上。」

Google said in June that more than 1.5 billion people watch YouTube Shorts every month.

Google 在六月時表示，每個月會有超過 15 億人觀看 YouTube Shorts。

TikTok said in September the app had drawn more than 1 billion monthly users.

TikTok 則在九月時指出，其應用程式已經吸引超過 10 億的每月用戶。

Third-party estimates have shown that number as high as 1.6 billion monthly users.

第三方數據則顯示每月用戶的數高達 16 億。

The short video craze also inspired Pinterest to create Watch last year, where users can scroll through short videos and pictures.

這個短影片熱潮也促使 Pinterest 在去年推出 Watch，使用者可以滑動瀏覽短影片和圖片。

Netflix launched a feature called Fast Laughs that serves up short clips from Netflix shows.

Netflix 推出了稱為 Fast Laughs 的功能，提供 Netflix 節目的短片段。

And even Twitter said in December that it was testing out an updated Explore tab to allow users to scroll through short-form video tweets.

連 Twitter 都在 12 月說它正在測試一個更新的 Explore 標籤，讓用戶能夠滑動瀏覽短影片推文。

So, with all these options, which platform is the most popular among users?

那麼在眾多的選擇中，哪個平台在使用之間最受歡迎呢？

TikTok certainly seems like is still in the lead.

TikTok 肯定看似依舊處於領先地位。

If you look at the user data from digital intelligence company SimilarWeb, people say they're spending more time on TikTok than on the Instagram app or YouTube platform.

如果你觀察一下來自數位資料公司 SimilarWeb 提供的使用者數據，人們表明他們在 TikTok 花費時間多於 Instagram 這個應用程是或 YouTube 平臺。

That being said, Reels and Shorts are gaining very quickly.

儘管如此，Reels 和 Shorts 增長得非常快。

In a June survey by data platform company Inmar Intelligence, 44% of people picked TikTok as their preferred short-form video service, followed by 29% for YouTube Shorts and 20% for Instagram Reels.

在數據平台公司 Inmar Intelligence 六月進行的市調中，44% 的使用者將 TikTok 選為最偏好的短影片服務，接著是獲得 29% 的 YouTube Shorts 和 20% 的 Instagram Reels。

Another measure of success for these platforms?

那另一個衡量這些平台成功與否的標準呢？

Advertising revenue.

廣告收入。

TikTok seems to be the farthest along in turning on advertising on the service.

在服務中啟用廣告服務這方面，TikTok 的發展似乎最為成熟。

This year, they're projected to make about $12 billion in advertising revenue, up from $4 billion last year.

他們預估今年的廣告收入會從去年的 40 億增長到大約 120 億。

TikTok partners with e-commerce platforms like Shopify to help businesses advertise directly through their Shopify dashboards.

TikTok 與像是 Shopify 的電商平台合夥，透過他們的 Shopify 儀表板幫助企業直接進行廣告。

And earlier this year, in an effort to attract more advertisers, TikTok enabled first- and third-party cookies on top of its existing tools.

而在今年稍早時，TikTok 為了要吸引更多廣告商而在現有工具上啟用了第一與第三方 cookie。（譯註：cookie 是記錄用戶上網瀏覽紀錄與資訊的文件。）

YouTube Shorts only recently started allowing ads on the service.

YouTube Shorts 直到最近才開始提供在服務上張貼廣告。

Reels is also more immature turning on ads on the service.

Reels 在服務上啟用廣告也較不成熟。

But they're quickly catching up.

但他們正在快速追趕。

Their parent companies, Google and Meta, are two of the largest online advertising companies in the world.

他們各自的母公司 Google 和 Meta 名列全球最大的線上廣告公司。

It's a fairly safe assumption that they're putting a lot of effort behind getting digital ads on these services and making that a bigger part of their growth story for the future.

我們可以安全地假設他們正投入很多心力在這些服務上加入數位廣告，讓它成為未來成長故事更大的一部分。

Second place is still a close battle, but it appears that Shorts is gaining fast on TikTok based on viewer data Google released in June.

亞軍寶座之爭仍然很熱烈，但根據 Google 六月釋出的觀眾數據，Shorts 似乎正在快速地趕上 TikTok。

Shorts began rolling out ads globally in May, and Google said it would eventually allow companies to make their ads shoppable, like on TikTok and Reels.

Shorts 從五月就開始在全球推送廣告，而 Google 也表示它最終會讓公司將廣告變成可直接購物性質，如同 TikTok 和 Reels 一般。

It's still a little bit early to tell how that is going, but YouTube, right now, is looking for a new source of growth as revenue growth has been flagging,

現在要判斷它的發展狀況還言之過早，但現在 YouTube 正在找尋新的成長來源，因為目前的收益成長一直在減弱，

so, they're putting a lot of work into making Shorts a big advertisement platform.

所以他們正投入很多心力在把 Shorts 變成大型廣告平台。

YouTube Shorts also has a unique advantage.

YouTube Shorts 也有一個獨特的優勢。

It allows creators to use the analytics tools on YouTube's main platform, which provide data about who is watching videos.

它允許創作者使用 YouTube 主要平台中的分析工具，可以提供觀看影片者的數據。

These tools help creators work with brands and prove the effectiveness of their sponsored content,

這些工具有助於創造者跟品牌合作，並為他們受贊助內容有效推廣的證據，

but YouTube Shorts doesn't offer creators the same special effects options as TikTok.

但 YouTube Shorts 並沒有提供使用者像 TikTok 一樣的特效選擇。

This spring, it rolled out new features, including one that lets users turn snippets of existing YouTube videos into Shorts,

它在今年春天推出新的功能，包括讓使用者能讓現有 YouTube 影片剪輯為 Shorts 的功能，

but it's still missing tools like this,

但它還是卻乏了像這樣的工具，

which lets creators combine their video with one from another user.

也就是讓創作者將自己的影片與另一位使用者影片合併的功能。

It's harder to pinpoint where Instagram Reels is in this race because Meta has been reluctant to release data about monthly active users on Reels.

要確切點出 Instagram Reels 在這場競爭中的地位則更加困難，因為 Meta 一直不願意透露 Reels 上每個月活躍用戶的相關數據。

But in its July earnings call, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company saw,

但在它七月份的季度電話會議中，執行長馬克・祖克柏說該公司：

"... a more-than-30% increase in the time that people spend engaging with Reels across Facebook and Instagram."

「⋯⋯就人們在 Facebook 和 Instagram 上互動的時間，有超出 30% 的增長。」

However, this is the first time that Meta has ever reported a decline in revenue, down almost 1% from the previous year.

然而，這是 Meta 首次報導營收降低，大約比前一年少了近 1%。

Earlier this month, Meta said it is reallocating resources from its Facebook News tab and newsletter platform Bulletin as part of a broader shift toward short-form video content creators that can compete with TikTok.

本月稍早，Meta 說它即將重新分配資源，從 Facebook 新聞標籤以及報紙平台 Bulletin 轉移至足以與 TikTok 匹敵的短影片內容創作者。

The company also said Facebook's Home feed will be more personalized, featuring Reels and content driven by the platform's algorithm.

該公司也表示 Facebook 的主頁推送內容也將更加個人化，根據平台演算法主打 Reels 和其它內容。

As the race continues, TikTok remains a concern for some US lawmakers and users concerned about data privacy, but the company has taken steps to address this.

隨著持續進展中的競爭，對於一些美國立法人員和擔憂資訊隱私使用者來說，TikTok 依然是他們的一大顧慮，但該公司已經採取相應的處理手段。

In June, the company said that 100% of US user traffic was being routed to its partner Oracle,

該公司在六月時表明美國 100% 的使用者流量會被傳送到合夥公司 Oracle，

and TikTok said that while it still uses its own US and Singapore data centers as backup, it expects to delete US user data from its own data centers and migrate fully to Oracle servers.

而 TikTok 也指出，雖然它仍舊會將其在美國和新加坡的數據中心作為備用，它預期會從自身數據中心完全刪除美國使用者數據並完全轉移至 Oracle 伺服器。

But for now, TikTok's algorithm still seems to attract more users among the short video platforms, and that might help it remain the front runner in this race.

但就現階段而言，在所有短影片平台中，TikTok 的演算法似乎依然吸引了較多的使用者，而那可能有助於它在這場競爭中持續領先。