YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says the video site has plans to take advantage of Web3 technology.

• On Tuesday, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki released her annual letter, which outlines the company's priorities.
• As new web technologies attract the attention of artists, Wojcicki mentioned YouTube's plans to focus on NFTs.
• The startup claims to have "5 trillion all-time views" on its short video platform, which competes with TikTok.

Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube, said on Tuesday that the video site will expand in ways that "help creators capitalise" on new technology like NFTs.

Wojcicki wasn't explicit about YouTube's goals in her annual letter laying out the Google-owned company's priorities, but she did make it obvious that the popular video site will be playing in areas that have been widely publicised of late.

"The past year has highlighted a previously inconceivable opportunity to grow the relationship between creators and their followers in the realm of crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs)," Wojcicki wrote.

"We're continually working to grow the YouTube ecosystem to help creators take advantage of new technologies, like as NFTs, while also strengthening and improving the experiences creators and viewers enjoy on YouTube."

Wojcicki stated that "everything happening in Web3" has inspired YouTube. Web3 is a name that has been heavily contested on Twitter and has come to signify the next development of the internet, encompassing blockchain technologies, crypto, and decentralised platforms. It's a far cry from the present internet model, which has been dominated by Google and a few other megacorporations for the previous two decades.

YouTube is the most recent social media business to use such futuristic language and to base its strategy on the concept of a shifting digital economy. YouTube is implying to producers that they will be able to make money once the new model is in place.

YouTube ad revenue increased 43 percent to $7.21 billion in the third quarter, compared to $5.04 billion a year ago, mirroring Google's overall revenue growth. Next Monday, the firm will release its fourth-quarter profits.

Wojcicki also stated that YouTube intends to invest more in podcasting, which would create a new distribution and promotion channel.

"We expect podcasting to become an increasingly important part of the creator economy as its popularity grows," Wojcicki stated.

Google has been stepping up its efforts in the short viral video space to compete with TikTok. Since its launch in 2020, Wojcicki claims that YouTube's competing product, Shorts, has received "5 trillion all-time views." Shorts received 15 billion daily views the last time Google issued an update on usage in July 2021, when CEO Sundar Pichai claimed they were getting 15 billion daily views.

Wojcicki said, the company is currently testing how shopping may be connected with Shorts. She also mentioned YouTube's plans to hire additional staff so that it can provide more granular facts to producers regarding rules infractions.

Her letter ended with a discussion on regulation, which is particularly important for Google, which is under investigation in the United States and elsewhere for suspected monopoly power and the spread of misinformation.

Wojcicki wrote, "We presently comply with regulation in nations all around the world." "However, we are concerned about new regulations that may have unexpected effects for the creator community, particularly in the area of legal speech regulation."