Official Blog
Greater transparency for users around news broadcasters
Friday, February 2, 2018
A big goal for us in 2018 is to provide greater transparency across the board to our community of creators, advertisers, and viewers. In one small step towards that commitment, today we will start rolling out
notices
below videos uploaded by news broadcasters that receive some level of government or public funding. Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube.
We’re rolling out this feature to viewers in the U.S. for now, and we don’t expect it to be perfect. Users and publishers can give us feedback through the
“send feedback”
form. We plan to improve and expand the feature over time.
The notice will appear below the video, but above the video’s title, and include a link to Wikipedia so viewers can learn more about the news broadcaster.
News is an important and growing vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way. This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content. In 2017, we launched a “Breaking News” shelf on the home page to prominently surface news after a major event and a “Top News” shelf in YouTube search results to highlight news from authoritative sources for news-related queries.
This notice on publishers receiving public or government funding, though still in its early stages, not only carries forward our work in this area through 2017, but represents one of many more steps we will take throughout 2018 to improve how we deliver news content on YouTube.
Geoff Samek, Senior Product Manager YouTube News, recently watched "
The Oxford comma's unlikely origin
."
5 ways we’re toughening our approach to protect families on YouTube and YouTube Kids
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
In recent months, we've noticed a growing trend around content on YouTube that attempts to pass as family-friendly, but is clearly not. While some of these videos may be suitable for adults, others are completely unacceptable, so we are working to remove them from YouTube. Here’s what we’re doing:
Tougher application of our Community Guidelines and faster enforcement through technology:
We have always had strict policies against child endangerment, and we partner closely with regional authorities and experts to help us enforce these policies and report to law enforcement through NCMEC. In the last couple of weeks we expanded our enforcement guidelines around removing content featuring minors that may be endangering a child, even if that was not the uploader’s intent. In the last week we terminated over 50 channels and have removed thousands of videos under these guidelines, and we will continue to work quickly to remove more every day. We also implemented policies to
age-restrict
(only available to people over 18 and logged in) content with family entertainment characters but containing mature themes or adult humor. To help surface potentially violative content, we are applying machine learning technology and automated tools to quickly find and escalate for human review.
Removing ads from inappropriate videos targeting families:
Back in June,
we posted an update
to our advertiser-friendly guidelines making it clear that we will remove ads from any content depicting family entertainment characters engaged in violent, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes. Since June, we've removed ads from 3M videos under this policy and we’ve further strengthened the application of that policy to remove ads from another 500K violative videos.
Blocking inappropriate comments on videos featuring minors:
We have historically used a combination of automated systems and human flagging and review to remove inappropriate sexual or predatory comments on videos featuring minors. Comments of this nature are abhorrent and we work with NCMEC to report illegal behavior to law enforcement. Starting this week we will begin taking an even more aggressive stance by turning off all comments on videos of minors where we see these types of comments.
Providing guidance for creators who make family-friendly content:
We've created a platform for people to view family-friendly content -- YouTube Kids. We want to help creators produce quality content for the YouTube Kids app, so in the coming weeks we will release a comprehensive guide on how creators can make enriching family content for the app.
Engaging and learning from experts:
While there is some content that clearly doesn’t belong on YouTube, there is other content that is more nuanced or challenging to make a clear decision on. For example, today, there are many cartoons in mainstream entertainment that are targeted towards adults, and feature characters doing things we wouldn’t necessarily want children to see. Those may be OK for YouTube.com, or if we require the viewer to be over 18, but not for someone younger. Similarly, an adult dressed as a popular family character could be questionable content for some audiences, but could also be meant for adults recorded at a comic book convention. To help us better understand how to treat this content, we will be growing the number of experts we work with, and doubling the number of Trusted Flaggers we partner with in this area.
Across the board we have scaled up resources to ensure that thousands of people are working around the clock to monitor, review and make the right decisions across our ads and content policies. These latest enforcement changes will take shape over the weeks and months ahead as we work to tackle this evolving challenge. We’re wholly committed to addressing these issues and will continue to invest the engineering and human resources needed to get it right. As a parent and as a leader in this organization, I’m determined that we do.
Johanna Wright, Vice President of Product Management at YouTube
A new YouTube look that works for you
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
When YouTube launched 12 years ago, it was a single website that supported one video format, 320x240 at 4:3 aspect ratio. Fast forward to today, and YouTube lets you watch any combination of SD, HD, 4K, 360, 3-D, and live video on nearly every device with an internet connection – from desktops to phones, tablets to TVs, game consoles, and even VR headsets.
We’ve also introduced apps and services that give you new ways to watch and get even closer to the content and creators you love. Music fans, gamers, and TV lovers each have unique experiences specifically tailored for their favorite content with
YouTube Music
,
YouTube Gaming
and
YouTube TV
. For families looking for the best way to watch together, we launched the
YouTube Kids
app. And for fans who want an uninterrupted, ad-free experience, and exclusive original content from creators, there’s the
YouTube Red
membership.
To put it simply, YouTube’s evolved … a lot. And we’re not even close to done. Over the last few months we've started releasing updates and will continue to throughout the rest of the year. When all is said and done, we'll bring a new level of functionality and a more consistent look across our desktop and mobile experiences.
Let’s start with the YouTube mobile app, which is getting a bunch of new features:
Clean new design
: We’ve made the header white to let content take the lead and moved the
navigation tabs
to the bottom of the app so they’re closer to your thumbs. We also added new
Library and Account tabs
that give you easy access to what you’re looking for.
Videos that move with you
: One of the things we’re working on is bringing gestures to YouTube. Earlier this year, we
introduced
a gesture that allows you to double tap on the left or right side of a video to fast forward or rewind 10 seconds. Give it a try! We already see billions of double taps per day. And I wanted to give you a sneak peek at another gesture I am really excited about. In the coming months, we'll experiment with a feature that lets you jump between videos with a simple swipe of your hand: just swipe left to watch a previous video or swipe right to watch the next one.
Watch at your own pace
: Users love that they are able to speed up and slow down the playback of a video on desktop, and we're excited to bring this feature to the mobile app today, so you can enjoy videos at whatever speed you prefer.
Adapt to any video, beautifully
: We've also been experimenting with new ways to display all videos in the best possible way. Soon, the YouTube player will seamlessly change shape to match the video format you’re watching, such as vertical, square or horizontal. That means you’ll always get the best viewing experience automatically – including vertical videos with no black bars on the sides!
Browse and discover while you watch
: We recently added a feature that lets you view a row of suggested videos while you’re watching in full screen. We're also working on transforming the area below the player so you can browse videos in totally new ways.
Looking beyond the YouTube app, we’ve also been
working
on a new desktop design. And thanks to all the positive feedback, we're now excited to make it available to all our users around the globe starting today! Our new look applies
Material Design
to YouTube and delivers a fresh, simple and intuitive user experience that lets content shine – because there's nothing more important than the creators and videos we all love to watch. My favorite feature of this new desktop design is Dark Theme, which turns the background dark while you watch for a more cinematic look.
The bright red cherry on top of this update sundae is a refreshed
YouTube Logo and YouTube Icon
. Designed for our multi-screen world, the updated Logo combines a cleaned up version of the YouTube wordmark and Icon, creating a more flexible design that works better across a variety of devices, even on the tiniest screens. Why’s it more flexible? When room is limited (say on a smartphone) you can use the brightened up Icon as an abbreviated Logo, which will be seen more easily and read more clearly. You’ll see the new Logo and Icon roll out across mobile and desktop today, and across all our other apps and services soon.
We know this is a lot of change, but we want to make clear that there’s one thing that stays the same: YouTube’s mission. We’re here to give people a voice and show them the world – no matter what device they use.
Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, recently watched "
YouTube: What will you watch next?
"
Five observations from my time at YouTube
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Earlier this year, I was asked by Google (because they know I am pre "Sucker M.C.") to work on a
Doodle
celebrating the 44th anniversary of the music that changed my life. The birth of hip-hop was a fusion of expression and technical innovation that forever changed our culture and Google wanted to celebrate the moment when it all came together.
I had one condition on participating: that the project be authentic and not some tech company’s interpretation of a cultural revolution. They couldn't agree more and the collaboration led to an amazing interactive experience that used technology and Google’s reach to celebrate the birth of hip-hop. It showed me that Google and YouTube know how to listen to feedback (in this case, mine), and are willing to work hard to get things right.
I joined Google and YouTube because I saw a great opportunity to bring tech and music together and do right by artists, the industry and fans. Eight months in, I’m more optimistic than ever that YouTube can do that, but the truth is there’s still a disconnect between YouTube and the rest of the industry.
So, how did YouTube get here? What explains the current state of YouTube’s relationship with the industry? I think there are five factors that explain the current situation.
Late to the party.
I get why some in the music industry would be skeptical of their relationship with YouTube. They were late to the subscriptions party and YouTube’s focus for many years was largely just on ads. While they have been at subscriptions for a year, and the numbers are very encouraging, YouTube must prove its credibility when it comes to its ability to shepherd their funnel of users into paid subscriptions.
But since I’ve been here, I’ve been incredibly encouraged by what I’ve seen. The team is serious about subscriptions. And now with YouTube Music and Google Play Music merging, I’m confident they will build an even better subscription service. And with more deals like the one YouTube recently signed with Warner, they’re going to be able to take it global.
Twin-engine growth.
The success of streaming subscriptions is one reason why I’m so optimistic about the future. Subscription revenue is still in its infancy, yet it’s already reaping billions for the music industry. It’s not just some business model on a whiteboard; it’s a real and rapidly growing source of cash for labels and artists today.
Some think ads are the death of the music industry. Ads are not death. Death is death. Irrelevance is death. Fans not being exposed to new music is death. My time at YouTube has me convinced that advertising is another powerful source of growth for the industry. YouTube’s ads hustle has already brought over a billion dollars in 12 months to the industry and it’s growing rapidly. Combined with YouTube’s growing subscription service, they’ve now got two engines taking the industry to a more lucrative place than it’s ever been before.
But that all depends on whether or not the industry chokes off these new sources of growth. I’m old enough to remember what the industry was saying about iTunes and Spotify before they started contributing billions to its bottom line. The growth that the industry is seeing today proves that ads and subscription thrive side by side.
Let’s talk dead presidents.
It is important that labels, publishers and YouTube come together to make transparency a reality, as I strongly believe it will help everyone in the industry move the business forward.
Artists and songwriters need to truly understand what they’re making on different platforms. It’s not enough for YouTube to say that it’s paid over $1 billion to the industry from ads. We (the labels, publishers and YouTube) must shine a light on artist royalties, show them how much they make from ads compared to subscriptions by geography and see how high their revenue is in the U.S. and compared to other services.
For instance, critics complain YouTube isn’t paying enough money for ad-supported streams compared to Spotify or Pandora. I was one of them! Then I got here and looked at the numbers myself. At over $3 per thousand streams in the U.S., YouTube is paying out more than other ad supported services.
Why doesn’t anyone know that? Because YouTube is global and the numbers get diluted by lower contributions in developing markets. But they’re working the ads hustle like crazy so payouts can ramp up quickly all around the world. If they can do that, this industry could double in the next few years.
Fortune AND fame.
Every day for the last 30 years, I’ve woken up with the same thought: maybe today’s the day I’m going to meet an artist that’s going to change pop culture. I love watching when an artist goes from obscurity to celebrity. That’s my drug.
Every artist I’ve ever worked with wanted some fame and fortune. YouTube will deliver fortune … but I think they need to be just as focused on bringing the fame. YouTube is already a great force for breaking new artists; in fact, the majority of music watchtime on YouTube is coming from its recommendations, rather than people searching for what they want to listen to. But YouTube needs to find new ways to promote and break artists and their albums so they have a chance to shine on the platform and connect with their fans. This is one of my biggest priorities and you’ll see more coming soon.
Without safe harbor, we’d all be lost at sea.
I’ve spent my professional life fighting for artists to get what they deserve. I’ve worked with the RIAA and the IFPI to fight piracy since back when the main concern was bootlegged tapes. Safe harbor has become an obsession -- with many complaining it’s the cause of all of industry’s woes. I’m not parroting the company line when I say the focus on copyright safe harbors is a distraction. Safe harbor helps open platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Soundcloud and Instagram give a voice to millions of artists around the world, making the industry more competitive and vibrant.
Every artist should be concerned if their music shows up online without credit or payment. But YouTube’s team has built a system in Content ID that helps rightsholders earn money no matter who uploads their music. As of 2016, 99.5 percent of music claims on YouTube are matched automatically by Content ID and are either removed or monetized.
Before Content ID, when a fan shared a song with a friend through a mix tape, it was called piracy. Now it's generated over $2 billion for content owners and goes far beyond what the safe harbor provision requires.
One of the first jobs I ever had in the music business was working as a road manager for Run DMC. Doing that taught me a lesson that has formed the core of what I’ve tried to do my entire career: set things up well so that the artists and fans can come together and make magic happen. I’ve spent my entire life helping artists achieve fame and fortune. I wouldn’t have joined YouTube if I didn’t believe the company was committed to delivering more revenue to artists, labels, publishers and composers -- they just have to set them up well and get out of their way.
With love and respect,
Lyor Cohen
Lyor recently watched “
Brothers Gonna Work It Out
”
Introducing a new way to share YouTube videos
Monday, August 7, 2017
Remember the first time you heard the opening beats of “
Despacito
”? Your ears perked up, your foot unconsciously tapping beneath the table. Like every “Despacito” loving person before you,
you can’t help but dance
, and when you'd finally caught your breath, you had to share it with all your friends. It would be wrong to keep something
this good
to yourself. And that means you had to copy and paste a link into an email, social or messaging app to share that moment.
But like chats around the water cooler, shouldn't sharing a video be as easy as saying, “Have you heard this new song?” We’ve been experimenting with a better way to share videos on YouTube since last year. Thanks to all your feedback, we made some improvements and are now ready to roll out this new sharing feature to all users globally.
Starting today, you can share videos with your friends and family directly on YouTube. Not only can you share and receive videos in the app, you can also chat about them right on YouTube, reply with another video, invite others to the conversation, and more. We think it’ll make sharing easier, faster and more fun on your phone. And if you want to continue sharing videos through other apps, you can still do that too.
These shared videos all live in a brand new tab on your YouTube mobile app, making it easier than ever to catch up on videos your friends have shared or to show them a few of your own favorites.
Start a group, share your favorite “Despacito” version and make a friend dance!
Benoît de Boursetty, Product Manager, recently shared “
A new way to share on YouTube
.”
A sneak peek at YouTube’s new look and feel
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
YouTube is where you come to watch your favorite creators -- whether that means jamming with
Alex Aiono
, gaming with
Strawburry17
, or hanging out with
Logan Paul
. That’s why we’re working on a redesign of the desktop experience that highlights your favorite videos and creators while making YouTube easier and more fun to use.
Starting today, we’re opening up a preview of the new design to a small group of people from all around the world so we can get feedback. While we hope you'll love what we’ve been working on, we’re also really excited to involve the YouTube community so we can make the site even better before sharing it more broadly.
We’re applying
Material Design
to YouTube to deliver a beautiful, delightful and intuitive user experience. The key principles of this new design are:
Simplicity
: The only thing you should be concerned about is watching the content you love. The new design is clean and fresh, thanks to the removal of visuals that can distract from your browsing or watching experience. We're focused on making the content shine!
Consistency
: The new design is aligned across Google platforms, including the YouTube mobile app, while still providing the features you know and love.
Beauty
: We strive to combine beauty and purpose to create an effortless experience.
The site design is built on a new, faster framework named
Polymer
, which enables quicker feature development from here on out. And today, we are introducing one of the first new features developed on Polymer: Dark Theme. Developed to cut down on glare and let you take in the true colors of the videos you watch, Dark Theme turns your background dark throughout your entire YouTube experience. This is only the beginning -- you can look forward to more powerful new features coming soon!
If you want to try out YouTube’s latest look, you can opt-in to preview the new design at
youtube.com/new
. You can return to the current design by selecting “Restore classic YouTube” from the Account Menu. And don't forget to send us feedback from the Account Menu.
We're still working on the new site, so we hope you'll try it out now and let us know what you think!
Brian Marquardt, Product Manager, recently watched “
Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen/PIKO-TARO
.”
You know what’s cool? A billion hours
Monday, February 27, 2017
A few years back, we made a big decision at YouTube. While everyone seemed focused on how many views a video got, we thought the amount of time someone spent watching a video was a better way to understand whether a viewer really enjoyed it. It wasn’t an easy call, but we thought it would help us make YouTube a more engaging place for creators and fans. And last year, we hit a big milestone on that journey: people around the world are now watching a billion hours of YouTube’s incredible content every single day!
Let’s put that in perspective. If you were to sit and watch a billion hours of YouTube, it would take you over 100,000 years. 100,000 years ago, our ancestors were crafting stone tools and
migrating out of Africa
while mammoths and mastodons roamed the Earth. If you spent 100,000 years traveling at the speed of light, you could travel from one end of the Milky Way to the other (
and you wouldn’t age a day!
). And if you searched for 100,000 years on YouTube, you’d find a
really killer KISS track
.
That’s the great thing about this milestone. It represents the enjoyment of the fantastically diverse videos that creative people make every single day. Around the world, people are spending a billion hours every day rewarding their curiosity, discovering great music, keeping up with the news, connecting with their favorite personalities, or catching up with the latest trend.
We’ve worked hard behind the scenes to make that billion-hour journey possible, but this isn’t just our milestone. It belongs to all of you, too—the global audience that tunes in every day and the creators whose videos have made YouTube the original, surprising and limitless source of entertainment it is. From all of us here at YouTube, please accept our heartfelt thanks.
Cristos Goodrow, VP of engineering at YouTube, recently watched “
Secret Billionaire: The Chuck Feeney Story
.”
How one family used YouTube to build a home and rebuild their lives
Monday, January 23, 2017
In December 2007, Cara Brookins was a 36-year-old computer programmer working full- time and taking care of her four young kids (ages 2, 11, 15, 17). From the outside, she looked like any other mom but personally she had just closed the door on an unsafe marriage and was preparing to rebuild her life.
After buying an acre of land in Bryant, Ark. and taking out a $150k loan, Cara and her four kids did something amazing … they rolled up their sleeves and started building their own home with the help of YouTube videos. The videos they watched on YouTube equipped them with the information they needed to make their big dream a reality. They watched videos to learn everything from how to build a solid foundation and construct countertops to even how to do their own plumbing. By September 2008--after nine months of working 20-hour days--Cara and her kids had finished their dream home. We spoke with Cara about finding hope, the power of YouTube, and why she chose to share her story:
Q: Take us back to the moment you decided to build your own house … what sparked the idea initially?
Cara: I had left a domestic violence situation with my four kids and we were really emotionally destroyed. All the advice I found for improving my life talked about baby steps and small goals. I couldn’t see how just resolving to get dressed in the morning was going to get me anywhere. We needed a safe place to live, and I was determined to do something big. So building a house felt like the most natural solution in the world.
Q: Why did you turn to YouTube?
Cara: We had always had a DIY mindset and we’d used YouTube to make our own jewelry and art projects. So we instantly focused on YouTube as the place to also learn how to set a foundation block or how to frame a window. I also researched energy efficient building ideas on YouTube. YouTube was really our go-to destination for the information we needed throughout the process.
Q: How did your family react when you told them what you were planning to do?
Cara: My parents thought I was absolutely nuts. They tried to talk me out of it and that shocked me. It seemed like such an obvious and perfect solution. Of course once they saw I was going to build it anyhow—yes, they already knew I was a very stubborn girl—they supported me in every way, even showing up on the job site to work.
Q: How did you and your family use YouTube throughout the process?
Cara: We used multiple videos for each project to learn multiple ways to do each thing, like frame a window or run a sewer line. And we tried to understand why each thing was done a certain way rather than just how to do it. Because we were watching at home on a computer (no smartphones!) and would have to remember everything to make it work the next day on the job site.
Q: Was there ever a point where you looked at the construction around you and thought “what have I gotten myself into?!”
Cara: From the day we broke ground, I thought this every single day until we moved in! It was an overwhelming number of decisions and amount of work. But I was the only adult to pull all the kids together and I had to play it confident and cool the whole time. I had to make the decisions and plans and then be the cheerleader. It was emotionally exhausting, but of course incredibly rewarding too.
Q: For anyone out there who may want to learn how to do something but doesn't know where to start or thinks they can't do it, what would you tell them?
Cara: Never stop with the phrase, “I don’t know how to do that.” Always add, “YET!” There are no limits to what you can accomplish if you truly want it. And of course that’s because if you want it badly enough you’ll put in a solid effort and endless hours of hard work. Approach each project with steady determination. I was a small computer programmer and an author. If I can build a house with my kids, there is no limit to what other people might accomplish.
Q: Why did you decide to write a book about your journey and what do you hope people take from reading it?
Cara: I never intended to write a book about the house when we were building it. I was pretty ashamed that my decisions had put us in this place, where our sanest option was to build our own shelter. Fiction writing was my big focus at the time. But after we finished, I knew I had to tell our story, not because I wanted other people to look at what we’d done but because I wanted them to imagine the big things they could build with their life. It took me six years to figure out how to write the book in the right away. I had dozens of versions before “Rise” sold. Even then there was a big fear over how people would react and what they would focus on in the story. It’s such a vulnerable time of our lives to share. But we’ve had so much support from across the entire world, and best of all the message people are receiving is that they really can do anything they dream of if they put in enough hard work.
Q: How did this experience impact your kids and your family?
Cara: My kids were so weak and small when we started this project. All our energy went toward survival with no energy left for setting goals or dreaming of a big future. After we built the house we each came away with the sense that absolutely anything was possible. Our dreams are ridiculous, crazy things and we don’t doubt for one second that we’ll achieve them.
A billion reasons to celebrate music on YouTube
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Last year was a bright one for music—after several tough years of declining revenues, the industry
started growing again
, spurred in large part by the growth of music streaming subscriptions. This year, the industry has even more reasons to be optimistic. Even as music subscriptions have been growing faster than any other subscription type, advertising is another
powerful driver
of revenue. In fact, in the last 12 months, YouTube has paid out over $1 billion to the music industry from advertising alone, demonstrating that multiple experiences and models are succeeding alongside each other.
And this is just the beginning. As more advertising dollars
shift
from TV, radio and print to online services, the music industry will generate even more revenue from ads. In the future, the music business has an opportunity to look a lot like television, where subscriptions and advertising contribute roughly equal amounts of revenue, bolstered by digital and physical sales. To achieve this, there is a lot of work that must be done by YouTube and the industry as a whole, but we are excited to see the momentum.
At a time when there’s never been more competition for attention, fans can’t get enough good music. It is clear that this creative industry has two strong engines of growth -- subscriptions and advertising -- and we are honored to be a part of it.
Robert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer, recently watched
"The Hamilton Mixtape Performance Live Stream."
U.S. election results LIVE on YouTube
Monday, October 31, 2016
From candidates announcing their
run for office
to the
political conventions
, you’ve come to YouTube to get informed on the U.S. election.
In fact, over the past few weeks you spent over 20 million hours watching - and rewatching - the presidential debate live streams on YouTube. That’s the equivalent of over 2,288 years of time!
With just over a week until election day, all eyes are on the candidates as they work to earn your vote. As in 2012, YouTube is back live streaming election results coverage and this year, you can choose from more news organizations than ever before.
Head to YouTube starting at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 8, and select your favorite news channel to follow all the action:
NBC News
PBS
MTV
Bloomberg
Telemundo
The Young Turks
Also, tune in to a special election night event at YouTube Space NY, where host
Complex News
will deliver live results coverage and celebrate the momentous occasion.
If you haven’t already sent in your ballot, head to Google, search “
how to vote
” and get all the info you need to make your voice heard.
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched ”
U.S. Government & Politics
”
Watch tonight's presidential debate live stream on YouTube -- and don't forget to #voteIRL
Monday, September 26, 2016
With 42 days remaining, voters across the U.S. are gearing up for this year’s presidential election -- and tonight they’ll be able to watch the first presidential debate live on YouTube!
We
announced
last week that more news organizations than ever before are live streaming this major political event on YouTube. Have your choice and tune-in to your favorite news channel starting at 9:00 p.m. ET tonight. Here is where you can watch live on YouTube:
NBC News
Fox News
PBS
Washington Post
Univision
Telemundo
Can’t decide on one stream? Check out
youtube.com/news
to follow all of the live coverage.
You can also join
The Young Turks
and
Complex News
on the ground reporting from the debate using YouTube Live directly from their phones.
And don’t forget, tomorrow is National Voter Registration day and YouTube creators want you to
head to the polls and #voteIRL
. Tune in to
this playlist
to see how you can register to vote in the amount of time it takes
Ryan Seacrest to host a radio show
or
The Fung Bros to shoot hoops
. Surprising fact: it only takes one minute and 34 seconds!
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched "
How to Vote in Every State
."
The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians - with Damon Albarn & guests - play for the world live from London’s Royal Festival Hall on YouTube
Friday, June 24, 2016
Music is a universal language that unites people around the world. It reminds us of who we are, where we come from, and the moments that matter the most.
Tomorrow, the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, which features former and current members of the Syrian National Orchestra, will take the stage at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London for a special performance, presented by Africa Express, that will be live streamed globally on YouTube from 7:30 p.m. BST (11:30 a.m. PST) at
youtu.be/aH_FP67cLP0
.
As a result of the ongoing conflict, many Syrian musicians, including the orchestra’s conductor Issam Rafea, have been forced to leave their homes. This performance will see musicians who previously worked with Damon Albarn on the Gorillaz track “
White Flag
,” travelling from both inside and outside Syria to reunite for an orchestral performance of Arabic music with Albarn and other guest performers - including Bashy, Bassekou Kouyaté, Bu Kolthoum, Eslam Jawaad, Faia Younan, Julia Holter, Malikah, Mounir Troudi, Noura Mint Seymali, Paul Weller, Rachid Taha, and Seckou Keita - to highlight and celebrate the remarkable music culture of Syria.
Communities around the globe are likewise coming together to host viewings of the performance, including at the YouTube Space in New York and Berlin; at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts Brussels; and in homes and cultural centers around the world.
The live stream will be hosted by music artist
Faia Younan
alongside
FlyWithHaifa
.
Tune in on Saturday, June 25 at 11:30 a.m. PST, 7:30 p.m. BST to watch the concert live alongside viewers around the world, or catch the event afterwards, all at
youtube.com/africaexpress
. The concert was co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Holland Festival.
David Mogendorff, Artist Relations and Music Partnerships for YouTube, recently watched “
Saviour by Jacob Collier
.”
YouTube creators live from tomorrow’s #DemDebate
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Voters across the country are gearing up for this year’s presidential election -- and tomorrow they’ll be able to tune in live on YouTube! We
announced
last month that YouTube and NBC News would team up to present the final DNC sanctioned Democratic presidential debate before the first caucus and primary votes are cast.
Not only will this be the first debate live streamed on a social media platform this election cycle, but you can expect to see some of your favorite YouTube creators involved. Take a look at this sneak-peek of the YouTubers you’ll see tomorrow:
Connor Franta
, a top lifestyle creator, earned the "Favorite YouTube Star “award at the 42nd People's Choice Awards just this month. His debut book, “A Work in Progress,” spent 16 weeks on
The New York Times
Best Sellers list.
Marques Brownlee
is one of YouTube’s go-to tech reviewers who covers everything from smartphones to drones. Variety recognized Marques as one of the top 12 digital stars in the digital world.
MinuteEarth
is an animated science series that explores how things work on our planet. It is produced by a small team of scientists, writers, and video creators around the world.
Franchesca Ramsey
is a writer, actress and vlogger whose channel covers everything from topical comedy sketches to commentary on social issues.
Along with creators, we’ll feature
Google Trends
throughout the debate to give a perspective on the issues Americans care about most. Keep an eye out for the topics, policies and candidates that matter most based on Google data.
Tune in to the NBC News-YouTube Democratic Candidates Debate, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and moderated by Lester Holt, tomorrow, Sunday, January 17, 2016, in Charleston, S.C., airing on NBC from 9-11 p.m. ET and streamed live on the
NBC News YouTube channel
.
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News, recently watched “
Mock Job Interview for President
," and Steve Grove, Google News Lab, recently watched “
The YouTube Interview with President Obama
”
YouTube and NBC News present Democratic primary debate in South Carolina
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
From presidential candidates
launching their campaigns
, to YouTube creators
discussing issues that matter to their communities
, to
light-hearted moments
along the campaign trail, you’ve already been following the 2016 U.S. election from multiple angles on YouTube.
Now you can watch the candidates debate on YouTube, too.
Next month, we’ll join together with NBC News to present the final DNC sanctioned Democratic presidential debate before the first caucus and primary votes are cast—with the action live streamed on YouTube. The NBC News-YouTube Democratic Candidates Debate, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and moderated by Lester Holt, will take place on Sunday, January 17, 2016, in Charleston, S.C., airing on NBC from 9-11 p.m. ET and streamed live on the
NBC News YouTube channel
.
With so many YouTube fans following this election closely, of course there will be an opportunity for you to get involved. Along with Google Trends data, the debate will feature questions from the YouTube community. Look out for more information on how you can engage in the coming weeks.
Since 2005 you’ve made YouTube a home for global politics, and today you watch more than 5 million hours of news on YouTube every day. Over the course of 2016, you’ll be able to find all of the major election moments unfold on YouTube—tune in to the
NBC News YouTube channel
January 17 to kick off the election year.
Brandon Feldman, YouTube News, recently watched “
Party Systems: Crash Course Government and Politics
” and Steve Grove, Google News Lab, recently watched “
Barack Obama Singing Hotline Bling by Drake
.”
YouTube goes (even more) global!
Monday, October 12, 2015
If you’re watching a YouTube video today, chances are you’re not in the United States. More than 80 percent of YouTube’s billions of views each day come from fans in countries outside the U.S., and the videos and creators they’re watching are just as global.
We want to make sure the videos you see when you fire up YouTube are relevant to you, wherever you’re watching. That’s why we’re launching even more local country versions of YouTube, connecting fans with creators in their home countries and giving those creators a way to earn money from their popularity. With the addition of the Adriatics, Baltics, Bulgaria, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Belarus, YouTube now has local versions in 85 countries.
For fans in these countries, this means easily discovering local creators and content. In Kazakhstan, you’ll find local talent such as
DynastyofCat
, a hugely popular DIY and vlogging channel, or even local broadcasters like
TheSevenChannel
, right there on the homepage. In Belarus, you can find 17-year-old vlogger
DimaErmuzevich
who regularly reaches more than 400K fans; and the Serbian music channel
Grand Production
, which has grown a following throughout the Balkans and beyond with their folk music.
Local versions of YouTube are good news for creators, too. It opens up the opportunity for creators to
become a partner
, earn money from their channels, and gain access to tools and resources that can help them make the most of YouTube. Creators can access online lessons via the
YouTube Creator Academy
to get started and learn best practices, and the
Creator Community
gives creators a place to meet each other, find collaborations, and more. We hope that this will allow more creators to bring more of their ideas and talents to YouTube for all of us to enjoy.
So whether you’re viewing us from youtube.by, youtube.kz, or youtube.bg, you’ve now got your own YouTube that not only connects you with a community of a billion people, but helps you see the creativity going on right in your backyard.
Marenco Kemp, Head of EMEA Online Partnerships, recently watched
"Top10Memes: Top 10 Facts - Lego."
Celebrating 10 Years of YouTube
Friday, May 1, 2015
Cross-posted from the
YouTube Trends Blog
On April 23, 2005, history was made. An 18-second clip about
how cool elephants are
was shot at the San Diego Zoo and uploaded to a then-private video sharing site called YouTube.
That May, YouTube launched in beta before becoming available to the wider public six months later. Ten years have now passed, and that site has grown to become not just the biggest video platform on the web—a community of more than one billion people, where hundreds of millions of hours of video are watched and billions of views are generated every day —but one of the largest and most diverse collections of self-expression in history.
YouTube is a portrait of our global culture, seen through the lenses and perspectives of people around the world. It is a portrait built by a creative community of bold and fearless individuals. Built by
comedians
,
gamers
,
activists
,
artists
,
performers
,
teachers
, and
pranksters
. Built with
cats
and
rainbows
and
blenders
and
ninjas
and
unicorns
. It was built on the
silly
. It was built on the
profound
. It was built by you.
And 10 years in, you continue to redefine how the world experiences music, entertainment, and news. How the world laughs and how the world learns. How we shape political events and how we connect over the things we love.
You’ve helped turn creators into the
biggest names in entertainment
. You’ve given people opportunities to share their voice and talent no matter
where they are from
or
what their age
or
point of view
. You built a world where little ideas can bring about amazing things and where amazing things can bring little delights to each of us.
So in honor of our 10th birthday, we’re celebrating you, our YouTube community. Every day over the next 26 days, we’ll take a look back at some of the most memorable moments, from the silly to the profound, that you’ve shared on YouTube in the last 10 years. It’s YouTube from A to Z. Literally.
You can follow our celebration throughout the month of May on our
YouTube Trends blog
.
Old Spice, Red Bull, and Bears Oh My! A look back at the last five years of ads on YouTube
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Do you remember life before the
Old Spice Man
? Or the
epic split
that launched a
thousand splits
? Since launching our skippable TrueView video ads five years ago, we’ve had countless iconic moments from brands on YouTube. That’s because with our introduction of ads you can skip, brands have amped up their game and created videos that feel less like ads and more like content you want to watch. In fact, last year
four of the top 10
trending videos of the year were created by brands.
To celebrate our fifth anniversary of our skippable TrueView ads, we’re bringing you back to 2010, with a look at the
top five trending ads
on YouTube from five years ago. Do you remember them all?
1) DC Shoes: “Ken Block’s Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l’Autodrome, France
DC Shoes took us behind the wheel with Ken Block on a track with banks as steep as 51 degrees—more than double the incline of most racecar tracks!
2) Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
In 2010, Old Spice took the web by storm with their 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' campaign. Even funnier were the resulting real-time conversations that ensued
with celebrities like Alyssa Milano
.
3) Red Bull: Danny MacAskill - Way Back Home
Two years before Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere, Red Bull was still leading the charge on creating breathtaking HD ads.
4) Old Spice: Questions
The "Old Spice Man" became so popular that two of his videos were among the five most popular of the year - totalling nearly 75M views of both ads combined.
5) Tippex: NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear.
We'd be remiss not to give a shout-out to Tippex, who made white-out, of all products, a YouTube hit with their incredibly clever play on “choose your own adventure, YouTube style” in this ad.
But 2010 was just a starting point for great videos from brands. We’ve seen more creativity from brands on YouTube over the past five years, and as a result we’re watching more. In fact, the top 100 brands are now generating 42 percent more views per month on YouTube, according to Pixability.
1
And we're seeing great growth in new advertisers adopting video ads on YouTube--the number of advertisers using TrueView grew 45 percent in 2014
2
and all of the top 100 global brands have run TrueView video ads over the past year.
3
To check out some of the most memorable ads on YouTube, take a look at our
Iconic Ad Moments on YouTube playlist.
We look forward to see what brands will come up with this year!
David Kagan, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched
"Volvo LifePaint."
1. Pixability Top 100 Brands report, March 2015; compares data from Feb 2014 to Feb 2015. Top 100 brands defined by
Interbrand Top 100 Global Brands
list.
2. YouTube global data, 2014. Top 100 brands defined by
Interbrand Top 100 Global Brands
list.
3. YouTube global data, 2013 vs. 2014
Get more into NCAA March Madness on YouTube
Monday, March 2, 2015
Before your brackets have even been built or busted, we’ve got big college b-ball news.
NCAA March Madness
is now on YouTube and Google.
Starting with the 2015 NCAA Division I Basketball Championships, you can watch game highlights, pre- and postgame shows and more on the new
NCAA March Madness YouTube channel
. Subscribe to the channel to get all the latest updates around the tourney, from shows airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.
As you’ve searched for March Madness on Google more and more
every year
, getting answers should be easy: you’ll see schedules, scores, links to game live streams and more just by doing a search for “March Madness” or any of the participating teams. You’ll now have more power at your fingertips than Jerian Grant and his
disrespect for gravity
.
So stick around on YouTube and Google for your NCAA March Madness highlights and info, and if you need some selection inspiration, you can always brush up on your
Barack-etology
.
Roland Lange, Partner Manager, YouTube Sports, recently watched
“2014 March Madness Moments.”
Biggest year ever for big game ads on YouTube
Friday, February 6, 2015
This year’s football season might be done and dusted, but the battle for most popular big game ad is still in play. To see how trends have played out in the days since the game, we took a look at the top trending videos, facts, and stats about big game ads on YouTube.
We found that viewership is growing faster than before - people have watched more big game ads and teasers in the first six weeks of 2015 than all 52 weeks of 2014. More than 7M hours of big game ads and teasers have been watched on YouTube, up from 6.3M hours for all of 2014.
Liam cinches his “Revenge”
One of the surprise hits this week was Clash of Clan’s “Revenge” ad featuring Liam Neeson. The spot gained over 20M views this week alone and now clocks in at more than 30M views, making it the most viewed big game ad on YouTube so far. Here’s a look at viewership of game day ads over time, from a report by Pixability:
(Source: Pixability report “Super Bowl Ads on YouTube,” February 5)
Beards and selfies infiltrate top trending ads
As expected, puppies and celebrities dominated the top trending ads on YouTube. But there were also some lesser-reported trends that spanned across the top game day ads. We found that:
Half
of the top 10 ads featured men with beards
21
different types of animals (animated or otherwise) made an appearance
Two
ads had people taking selfies
Two
ads featured no dialogue at all
One
: the total number of “Angry Neesons”
Here’s a list of the top trending game day ads on YouTube (based on views as of 2/6):
There are still three more days to cast your vote for your favorite ad of the game. Visit our
AdBlitz channel
to cast your ballot before voting ends on February 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Kellen Spadafore, Insights at Google, recently watched
“Super Bowl XLIX: Patriots vs. Seahawks highlights.”
Shooting stars and puppy ads: How the world watched the big game
Monday, February 2, 2015
From a “
super brawl
” to a giant lion, yesterday’s big game was filled with many notable moments. That’s true on YouTube and Google too—people watched more game day ads and teaser videos on YouTube than ever before, YouTube hosted its first-ever halftime show, and a throwback PSA became a top trending search term. Here’s a look at the top trending searches, videos and more across Google and YouTube:
Battle of the brands
As the battle for football supremacy was taking place on the field, a very different battle was raging across the country: Which ad would reign supreme? Whether via smartphone, tablet or laptop, people spent nearly 4 million hours watching game-day ads and teaser videos on YouTube—up from 2.2 million hours from this time last year.
This year’s most popular ads came from a wide range of advertisers—newcomers and veterans alike. But one thing’s for certain—
puppies
,
pranks
, and
Kim Kardashian
continue to “break the Internet.” Here are the ads that scored big on YouTube so far:
YouTube has evolved to become the place brands go to engage with their audience before, during, and after the big game. That’s why revenue from our
AdBlitz program
set a new record this year, with brands investing more on YouTube around the big game than years past. And, we’ve hit a new record in watchtime across YouTube—the growth rate at which people are watching YouTube has nearly doubled in the last year, leading to the fastest growth we've seen in years.
Tom Brady and Missy Elliott dominate on search
While people turned to YouTube to watch the ads, people turned to Google to search for everything from “how old is Tom Brady” to “buffalo chicken dip recipes” to “Katy Perry Halftime performance.” Before kickoff, people asked Google “Why did John Travolta call Idina ‘Adele’?”—a throwback to John Travolta’s infamous mispronunciation of National Anthem performer Idina Menzel's name at the 2014 Oscars. Searchers were also interested in Menzel’s performance (or researching prop bets), asking “How long will it take Idina to sing the National Anthem?”
Tom Brady, Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson were the top three searched players before, during and after the game. Thanks to some standout in-game performances, by the end they were sharing the spotlight: Rob Gronkowski and Chris Matthews (replacing Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor). And MVP Tom Brady wasn’t just an MVP on the field—he captured the title of “Most Searched Quarterback” in every state except for the Seahawks’ home Washington.
Of course, for many people the halftime show is the highlight of the night, and Katy Perry’s performance delivered. She came in on a lion, danced with sharks and went out on a star—one that was, for some, reminiscent of NBC’s old “The More You Know” PSAs. The phrase "The More You Know" spiked 190x in search for the 10 minutes after Katy’s starry flight. And although Missy Elliott was a late addition to the halftime lineup, she was a popular topic in search. Top questions related to Missy Elliott included “When was Missy Elliott popular?” and “How does Katy Perry know Missy Elliott?”
A very YouTube halftime show
For the first time ever, this year YouTube hosted a Halftime Show produced by Collective Digital Studio, with the help of more than 25 YouTube creators including
Epic Meal Time's
Harley Morenstein as host,
Rhett & Link
,
Toby Turner
,
Freddie Wong
and
Tyler Ward
. From
Kurt Hugo Schneider’s
"Epic Patty Cake Song" to the “Elephant’s Toothpaste” science experiment with
Science Bob
, the show delivered a one-of-a-kind experience for YouTube fans.
With the last touchdown scored, we’re taking votes for your favorite ad, so visit our
AdBlitz channel
to cast your ballot before voting ends on February 9 at 11:59pm ET. Thanks for making this year our biggest game ever.
Whether you’re a loyal 12th man or a Boston fan for life, chances are you turned to YouTube and Google to watch your favorite ads, answer your questions or witness a new generation of halftime entertainment. We’re happy we could be a part of your game.
Posted by Riki Nakasuji, Sports & Gaming Sponsorships Manager, recently watched
“Top 10 Super Bowl games of all time.”
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