YouTube is the most popular platform for non-TV video content in the US, with 65% of the country’s short-form video viewers using the service to watch user-generated content, video game livestreams, and the like.

Last year, it put a three-hour time limit on digital gaming targeting minors under 14. While this may not necessarily be the norm for the metaverse, since it will constitute much vaster possibilities beyond gaming, we can presume some type of time control will take place. Cryptocurrency is out.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook's new Ray-Ban smart glasses, whether time spent on TikTok actually surpassed YouTube, what branded gaming on Roblox looks like, how to get noticed as a marketer, whether selling Super Bowl ads early is a good move, how to make friends while working from home, how two people reversed climate change in their hometown, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Suzy Davidkhanian, director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Mature gaming platforms including Roblox feature virtual worlds where branded content, from the likes of Gucci and Hyundai, has captivated players. But in nongaming metaverses, “it will be a while before marketing campaigns can move beyond gimmicks,” said Nina Goetzen, eMarketer analyst at Insider Intelligence. More like this:. Report: Insider Intelligence’s Tech Trends to Watch in 2022.

Gaming and tech conglomerate Tencent, which also owns messaging app WeChat, has pointed to the metaverse as an opportunity to expand its gaming business, per TechCrunch. TikTok owner Bytedance has followed in Meta and Microsoft’s footsteps and acquired VR headset company Pico, and Alibaba has plans to release AR glasses.

Many of the country’s internet users remained avid gamers. A pattern spotted in 2020 was clear again this year: Ownership of game consoles was comparatively low, at 13.4% in H1 2021, yet the average time spent gaming per day was 1:36. Digital audio formats—such as music and podcasts—were also very popular; 87.1% of internet users polled in H1 had listened to such content in the prior month.

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In total, they spent 51 minutes per day, on average, with digital games in H1 2021. Smartwatches and other digital gadgets aren’t a priority for most internet users, though penetration rates have risen. Almost half (48.0%) of internet users owned a smart TV in H1 2021. Ownership was above 50% among those ages 25 to 54, and it reached 61.0% in the most affluent group.

The share of internet users who owned a gaming console continued to rise, however, surpassing 43%. Smartwatches and smart wristbands also gained market share in H1 2021, with penetration rising to double digits (11.6% and 10.0%, respectively). Smart home products—such as remotely controlled energy monitors or smart appliances—broke into double digits too, as ownership climbed to 11.7%.

At the heart of Amazon's flywheel is Amazon Prime—a subscription service that includes a wide variety of perks such as discounts on select items, expedited shipping, and online videos, games, and music, to name a few.

Music streaming, gaming, and digital video took up broadly equal amounts of internet users’ time on a typical day in H1 2021, at 1:03, 1:06, and 1:06, respectively. Meanwhile, 37 minutes were devoted to podcasts daily, on average, compared with 31 minutes in H1 2020.

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