Google PM product strategy interview question: As a PM of YouTube, how do you position YouTube against Instagram and Snapchat?

1. CLARIFY:
   1. Do we want a global v US strategy? You choose. (I’ll focus on global.)
   2. Is there a specific aspect or feature of Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat you’d like to focus on? You choose.
   3. Is there a specific goal you’d like to focus on? You choose.
   4. Is there a specific channel? You choose. (Given that Snapchat is not available on desktop, the build would have to be available on mobile, but the strategic choice could apply to both web and mobile.)
2. BACKGROUND:
   1. Youtube: Youtube is an online video sharing platform owned by Google. It allows users to watch videos and livestreams. Most of the content consists of music or videos created by individuals, influencers or businesses. There are also TV shows and movies you can rent. Has both a desktop and mobile app presence.
   2. Instagram: Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform owned by Facebook. It started as a photo sharing platform and has expanded into allowing video uploads: permanent and stories that disappear after 24 hours. There are filters, text, emojis and music you can add to each video or photo. Has both a desktop and mobile app presence but mainly used on mobile.
   3. Snapchat: Snapchat is a photo and video sharing platform that is primarily known for its 24 hour / disappearing content. It also offers filters, text, emojis and music that you can to your content. You can send content to individuals or create stories, similar to Instagram. Only used on mobile devices.
3. GOAL: For this question, I’d like to focus on increasing engagement on Youtube’s platform – allow it to be competitive with Instagram and Snapchat and potentially take users from Instagram and Snapchat.
4. USERS: On each platform, there are two main buckets of users. For this question, I’d like to focus on the content creators, so we can assess features across the platforms and figure out what Youtube can do to be more competitive within the content creation space.
   1. Content Creators: Create content for individuals to watch. Could be individuals, influencers or businesses with social media accounts.
   2. Watchers: Individuals that are watching the content on each platform. May be viewing content on their personal feed from friends or influencers / businesses they follow. May also be going through a feed (available on each platform) that shows than random but personalized content.
5. STRATEGIC CHOICES: In order to understand how to position Youtube against Instagram and Snapchat, I’d like to evaluate features across the platforms that we could focus on.
   1. Account Management:
      1. Youtube: Allows video creators to create videos and playlists under “Your Channel”. You can see other channels a creator follows and also post discussion topics. There is an “About” section that allows a user to add personalized bio. Certain accounts can be verified with given number of users, etc.
      2. Instagram: Individuals create accounts and can post their own pictures and videos. There is a small room for a bio. They can save their stories onto their profile and watchers can see old stories they’ve posted. Accounts can be verified (usually influencers or businesses).
      3. Snapchat: Does not have a big profile management aspect. Does allow users to create bitmojis that are part of their profile – character representations of themselves. Allows for verified accounts with 50K+ views. Accounts can also be linked to a map that shows users where they are located.
   2. 24 Hour Story Content:
      1. Youtube: Does not offer this feature (unless a user creates a video and takes it down immediately after 24 hours).
      2. Instagram: Allows users to create stories and post them to their profile. Users can customize who is able to view it. Can post videos or pictures with filters, text, emojis, etc.
      3. Snapchat: Allows users to create story content and add to their profile. Very similar to Instagram. Can also send individual 24 hour photo / video content to users.
   3. Livestreams:
      1. Youtube: Can do livestreams with users. Can save livestream videos to profile.
      2. Instagram: Can go on live and allow users to interact with livestreams – send questions, like, comment, etc.
      3. Snapchat: Can individually call or video chat with users but does not have widely used “live” feature.
   4. Permanent Content:
      1. Youtube: Mainly known for its permanent video content. Content creators can create videos and upload to their profile. Can also create playlists of these videos sorted by category or theme. Videos may only have songs or graphic content.
      2. Instagram: Allows users to upload photos or videos. Has filters that allow users to edit content before it is posted. Can add geolocations.
      3. Snapchat: No permanent content feature.
   5. Commenting:
      1. Youtube: Allows content creators and watchers to comment on video uploads. Content creators can respond to their watchers or comment generally on their videos. Videos also are published with descriptions that content creators create.
      2. Instagram: Content creators can add captions to their uploaded photos and videos. Can also like and respond back to watcher comments.
      3. Snapchat: No way to comment on posts without having that content disappear. Watchers can respond to content creators privately, but because the content disappears, content creators cannot comment on their uploads.
   6. Messaging:
      1. Youtube: No clear way for users to privately message one another (outside of commenting on videos).
      2. Instagram: Can direct message other individuals. Messages are private. Can send photos and videos that disappear privately after 24 hours.
      3. Snapchat: Can send photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours Can also send private texts. Feature Snapchat is most known for is the disappearing content that users send privately to one another. There is a way to “save” messages to one another but disappearing messages are more widely used.
6. EVALUATE STRATEGIC CHOICES: I’d like to evaluate how each feature across these platforms impacts the content creator.

   1. 	Youtube	Instagram	Snapchat
      Account Management	Medium	High	Low
      24 Hour Story Content	Low	High	High
      Livestreams	Medium	Medium	Low
      Permanent Content	High	High	Low
      Commenting	Medium	High	Low
      Messaging	Low	High	Low

7. MAKE RECOMMENDATION: Given the prioritization, I’d like to focus on the 24 hour story content feature because both Instagram and Snapchat have this feature and it is widely used by their content creators, while Youtube is lacking in this area. If Youtube created a way for 24 hour content like Instagram and Snapchat, it could be much more competitive. It would also increase individual profile interaction, which is less of a focus on Youtube (i.e. content creators don’t really have “friends” but more “followers”) but a bigger focus on Instagram and Snapchat. From a personal user experience of all platforms, Youtube has the least “personal” feel and users mainly follow content creators / don’t make friends, so this build would likely drive more creators to create content for their watchers and also drive watcher engagement. Some feature aspects of this build include:
   1. Ability to create 24 hour video or photo upload to profile
   2. Ability to add filters and customizable text, emojis / graphics and music to upload
   3. Ability to personalize who sees the 24 hour content (public, followers only, individuals only)
   4. Ability to save 24 hour content (i.e. story) to profile