At its flagship advertiser event, Brandcast, YouTube recently announced that it will soon begin rolling out Veo 3—Google’s most advanced AI video-generation model—on YouTube Shorts, offering it free of charge in select countries across the MENA region over the coming weeks. This marks the latest move in the battle for market share in a region widely viewed as a digital goldmine for video platforms. The competition in the short-video space is now poised to intensify even further.
YouTube enjoys exceptionally high penetration in markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where it outranks TikTok and Instagram in total reach. A Kantar survey conducted last year in Saudi Arabia and the UAE underscored YouTube’s dominance. When asked which single platform they would choose if limited to only one for an entire year, viewers in both countries overwhelmingly chose YouTube. Remarkably, this preference cut across all age groups, including Gen Z.
The same study also highlighted YouTube’s strong influence on consumer behaviour. About 86 per cent of viewers in Saudi Arabia and 87 per cent in the UAE said that YouTube plays a key role in their purchase decisions. Moreover, 87 per cent of UAE viewers and 79 per cent of Gen Z viewers across both countries said that YouTube advertising introduced them to new brands and products.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the total number of users specifically in the short-video format, YouTube Shorts still lags behind TikTok and Instagram Reels. TikTok leads in content discovery, viral tends and live commerce, while Meta has a strong position in brand collaborations.
However, new data from research firm GWI reveals that 61 per cent of YouTube Shorts users in Saudi Arabia and 54 per cent in the UAE report that they do not use Instagram Reels. This “Reels-free” Shorts audience signals untapped potential and offers YouTube a chance to chart a new growth trajectory in the short-video format. Notably, with its latest move to offer free AI tools to creators, YouTube appears to be targeting more than just this distinct demographic.
Experts note that by providing free AI tools for micro-creators, Shorts aims to become the go-to platform for quick, professional-level edits. The company appears to expect that at least a section of creators will shift their loyalty from TikTok and Reels, making Shorts their primary base. At present, Shorts significantly lags in dedicated top-tier creators—its biggest names are often hybrid YouTubers who use Shorts as a funnel to drive traffic to their long-form content.
With the AI-tool rollout, YouTube hopes to spur the emergence of a platform-native community of Shorts creators in MENA, while also seeking to translate its dominance in long-form video into stronger gains in the short-form space.
Veo 3 will be rolled out initially in English, with plans to expand to more languages and creators in the future. YouTube also plans to broaden the reach of its auto-dub feature. Additionally, the platform will launch its “Creator Partnerships Hub and Open Call” in 2026 across MENA to help brands streamline collaborations and identify the best creator matches for their campaigns.
With the halo effect of YouTube’s high regional penetration—and now the introduction of Veo 3—Shorts viewership could see a notable spike. That said, it’s unlikely to surpass TikTok or Reels in outright dominance of the MENA short-form video market anytime soon. TikTok faces weaknesses ranging from regulatory scrutiny over data privacy to less mature AI for non-live content, while Reels struggles with lower organic reach and a smaller unique audience base. Shorts, too, faces its own challenges, including weak organic push and limited virality. But the arrival of free, AI-powered creation tools in the form of Veo 3 could begin to shift that equation.