Youtube’s Paid Courses: Is it the end for Unacademy, Byju’s, and other ed-tech startups?
Indian ed-tech startups are already facing big blockers in running the business with investors and markets shifting towards revenue first business which eventually led to a funding crunch, massive layoffs, and shifting to an offline coaching model.
At Google’s annual conference in India, it unveiled Courses, a feature that will seek to bring a structured learning experience to YouTube.
Teachers or YouTubers will be able to publish and organize their videos and provide text reading materials and questions right on the video app. They will be allowed to offer the content for free or charge a fee.
And this is a very exciting opportunity for YouTubers as it creates a more flexible way of monetization and recurring revenue but it’s going to bring a lot of change in the Indian ed-tech space
▶ Competition: YouTube’s large user base and brand recognition could make it a strong competitor for traditional education providers such as coaching apps and certifications.
This could lead to increased competition for students and potentially drive down prices for education.
▶ Changes in content creation: YouTube’s move into the education space could also lead to changes in the way that educational content is created and distributed currently on YouTube.
For example, content creators who currently create educational videos for YouTube will be willing to monetize their videos in the future. They will also be willing to start adapting their content to meet the needs of a paid course format
▶ Business model: Selling courses could also have a significant impact on YouTube’s business model as India is the youngest country in terms of aspirants and it creates an opportunity to earn recurring revenue.
Currently, the platform generates revenue primarily through advertising. Adding a paid course offering could change the way that YouTube generates revenue and potentially lead to changes to the platform’s overall business strategy.
On a summary note, it’s a great opportunity for individual creators but a big threat to ed-tech platforms like Byju’s, Vedanta, Unacademy, and many others whose USP is dependent on individual teachers.
What are your thoughts on future Indian ed-tech space? Drop them in the comments
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