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YouTube is starting to test ads on Shorts, a short-form video feature the company introduced in 2020 that is similar to what TikTok and Instagram are offering.

The company in particular is experimenting with app-install ads and other promotions, Google's chief business officer Philip Schindler told investors Tuesday.

“We are experiencing slight headwinds to revenue growth as shorts viewership grows as a percentage of total YouTube time,” said Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat. “We are testing monetization on Shorts, and the response and results from early advertisers are encouraging.”

According to Google, YouTube's shorts are generating 30 billion views daily, which is four times as many as last year.

Meanwhile, YouTube's ad-revenue growth soared to $6.86 billion, its first-quarter earnings report showed, but it fell short of analysts' expectations. The video-sharing site says it has also seen a drop in app-install campaigns such as direct response ads.

The news comes after YouTube introduced a $100 million creator fund for shorts last year, hoping to entice creators to use its platform.

YouTube announced in August that it would pay creators who create popular videos up to $10,000 per month. At the time, the company considered it an alternative way to advertise for paid creators, while the company built a long-term, scalable monetization program for them.

During his appearance on The Vergecast with Nilay Patel and Katy Cakes in February, YouTube's Chief Product Officer Neil Mohan discussed further plans for creators to make money from shorts. These include adding branded content, making it possible for consumers to shop from Short, and bringing Super Chat to the service. You can hear him talk about these plans in more detail on the podcast here.