YouTube Creator Blog

A new, optional feature for paid promotion disclosure

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

YouTube creators are among the most influential voices in media today. Since brands increasingly recognize the value of the connection creators have with their fans around the world, they are investing in collaborations to reach viewers in interesting and authentic ways. At the same time, viewers appreciate transparency when brands and creators collaborate on paid promotions such as product placements, sponsorships or endorsements.

While there are a variety of ways creators can disclose paid promotions, today we are launching a new, optional video feature that adds visible text on the video for the first few seconds a viewer watches, informing viewers of a paid promotion. Creators can also choose to add this text disclosure to any existing video without losing their view count or other video metrics.

We’re excited to provide this feature in response to requests for an easy-to-use notification, but since there is no global disclosure standard, creators and brands should check and follow applicable laws as they may vary greatly by region.

We’ve always asked creators to notify YouTube as well when a video contains paid promotion by checking the “video contains paid promotion” box in their Video Manager. We do this to remove the video from the YouTube Kids app in line with our existing policies, and we may replace the ad served with one that does not conflict with the promoted brand partner.

You can find more information about this new feature and our paid promotion policies in our Help Center. To learn more about disclosure rules and regulations, refer to your local legal resources, such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States, Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) in the United Kingdom, or the Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) in France.

Muli Salem, Product Manager, recently watched Magnets and Marbles.

Last chance for 2016! Enter to win a spot at YouTube NextUp!

Friday, September 30, 2016

In February we launched YouTube NextUp, a contest to give creators the opportunity to attend a week-long creator camp to accelerate their channels. Since then, over 200 up-and-coming channels have been selected to attend camps at YouTube Spaces in LA, NY, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. These up-and-coming channels took a 5-day crash course in video production, learned from top creators and NextUp grads and received vouchers for new equipment.
Now YouTube NextUp is going more global than ever before. We’re excited to announce the launch of our final round of 2016 contests. If you live in the following countries, you’re invited to enter:
North America
NextUp LA + NY - USA
NextUp Toronto - Canada
South America
NextUp Sao Paulo - Brazil
Europe
NextUp London - UK (including Northern Ireland), Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands
NextUp Paris - France, Belgium, and Luxembourg
NextUp Berlin - Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Middle East and North Africa
NextUp Amman - Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
Asia
NextUp Tokyo - Japan
NextUp Bangkok - Thailand

What’s it like winning YouTube NextUp? Check out what the latest NextUp London class experienced in the video below:

Channels selected to join the NextUp class of 2016 are eligible to receive:

A $2,500 voucher for production equipment (or local equivalent) to help you make your video dreams a reality.
A spot at a week-long creator camp at YouTube Spaces around the world. You’ll team up with production experts to harness new techniques in camera, lighting, and sound and receive coaching from YouTube Partnerships team on how to grow your audience.
Mentorship by YouTube NextUp grads, plus the opportunity to meet and work with other fast-rising creators.

To see if you’re qualified to enter the YouTube NextUp contest and check out all the creators in the NextUp class of 2016, visit youtube.com/nextup.

Elizabeth Hartnett, YouTube Global Program Manager - NextUp, recently watched "Ew! With Hannah Hoffman and Natalie Barbu" from NextUp NY grad Joey Ahern

And... action! The Creator Studio app introduces actionable data insights

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Like a lot of creators out there, you’re busy. From shooting to traveling, taking meetings, or a little time off, you’re on the move. The latest version of the Creator Studio app makes it faster and easier to manage your channel on the go. With new features to help you track and break down analytics, keep in touch with your community, and manage your channel, you can stay on top of it all, 24/7.

Turn your stats into actions

Not a numbers whizz? No worries! We did all the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to. The latest advances in YouTube Analytics are now part of the Creator Studio app. Our data cards provide simple and easy ways to understand your channel stats and suggest ways you can grow your channel. You’ll also get links to education resources based on your channel needs to help you bolster your skills.

Did one of your videos experience a sudden spike in views while you were out? With our new insights, you’ll receive a personalized message when a significant event happens on your channel and tips on how to make the most of what’s happening on your channel.

Here to help

These latest analytics updates to the Creator Studio app are all part of our continuing efforts to build better tools aimed at helping you grow. And if you still need answers to your YouTube questions, we’ve made it super simple to contact a real person here at YouTube. Following the announcement of increased support for every creator that is part of the YouTube Partner program, we’ve added a new way to email the YouTube support team directly from the app.

Ready to get started?

Download the Creator Studio app for Android from Google Play

Download the Creator Studio app for iOS from the App Store

For more information about the Creator Studio app, check out the YouTube Help Center.

Yury Polnar, Global Lead, Creator Growth, recently watched What Does YouTube Do To Your Video After You Upload It?

YouTube Community goes beyond video

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Your bond with your viewers is deep. You've grown up together, laughed together, and done incredible things together, from shifting attitudes about gay rights to volunteering millions of dollars toward important charitable causes. Today, we’re introducing a beta version of a new product to help strengthen the bond between you and your viewers, called YouTube Community.

The brand new Community tab on your YouTube channel gives you a new, simple way to engage with your viewers and express yourself beyond video. Now you can do things like text, live videos, images, animated GIFs and more, giving you easier, lightweight ways to engage with your fans more often in between uploads, in real time. Viewers will be able to see your posts in the Subscriptions feed on their phones. They can also opt into getting a notification anytime you post.

Community is a special release for us because it represents the deepest product collaboration we've ever done with creators like you. We started by inviting creators in early to develop, in partnership with us, the tools they wanted to better engage with their fans.

These creators brought forward a diversity of backgrounds and content styles, from John & Hank Green, to AsapSCIENCE, The Game Theorists, Karmin, The Key of Awesome, The Kloons, Lilly Singh, Peter Hollens, Rosianna Halse Rojas, Sam Tsui, Threadbanger, and VSauce3. We are launching the Community beta today with these creators, but we look forward to bringing more of you onboard. This is a first step and, with creator and fan feedback, we look forward to rolling out new features and functions as well as including more creators in the months ahead.

As creators, your ideas and feedback shape our platform, inspire new features, and help us decide what to prioritize. It's you who ultimately build YouTube and as the new Community product shows, together, we make YouTube better for everyone.

Posted by Kiley McEvoy, Senior Product Manager, recently watched YouTube's New Thing (and a New Thing of Our Own)

Creators: Step into our office …

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

From spirited discussions about primary debates to live coverage and commentary of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, people have come to YouTube to watch over 110 million hours of candidate and issues-related content leading up this year’s US Presidential Election. The YouTube community has become a key part of these political conversations and we want to help creators take their presidential banter and commentary to the next level and encourage their audience to vote.

Today we’re unveiling new elections-themed sets at YouTube Space LA and YouTube Space New York that are now open for productions. Good news - if you’ve unlocked access at the Space, we’re still accepting applications to shoot on these sets in both YouTube Space LA and YouTube Space NY.

Creators, bring your best White House game to YouTube Space LA where you can shoot on a 360-degree Oval Office set, or our multi-purpose set which includes a News Desk, Press Briefing Room, or Polling Station:

New sets at YouTube Space LA

Over at YouTube Space NY, you’ll be able to spin out your take on the latest political news within fully-outfitted Oval Office set or your choice of a White House Press Room and Debate Stage.

New sets at YouTube Space NY

Specialized writing workshops at both YouTube Spaces are also already under way for creators to get tips on effective storytelling for politically-themed content. In New York, creators are working with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and Warrior Poets to workshop productions that cover elections issues that are important to them. And in LA, select creators will participate in a comedy writing workshop taught by a seasoned improv and comedy writer. These classes will focus on developing writing skills for independent comedies as well as effective storytelling in experiential, engaging formats.

So far, we’ve welcomed creators like mitú, Nerdist, Key of Awesome, ABC News, Bernie Su of Canvas Media Studios in conjunction with The Young Turks, and LifeVestInside onto the sets to shoot everything from original songs and comedic shorts encouraging Latinos to vote, to videos about increasing kindness perception in the US, as well as a 360 narrative series on life in the Oval Office. Will yours be the first channel to shoot on the stages in both cities? We can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Chris D'Angelo, Director of Production and Programming, YouTube Spaces, recently watched Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State

The YouTube Space London: Our New Home in Kings Cross

Monday, August 15, 2016

For the past four years, YouTube Space London has been home to an incredible community of creators. Over 26,000 of you have passed through our doors, many on multiple occasions.

At the YouTube Space, you’ve experimented with new technology, collaborated with other creators, gone large with big production backdrops, and blown our minds with your creativity, tenacity and talent. We’ve watched travel lovers turn filmmakers and vloggers turn UN ambassadors and witnessed you use all the Space has to offer to realise your big, creative ambitions. And boy, do you have big ambitions!

Over the years we’ve hosted you, it’s become clear that YouTube creators are shaping the world. You’ve invented entirely new genres (vlogging, anyone?), connected corners of the world through shared passions and pastimes (Let’s Play, people!) and built up billions of subscribers for your channels. Many of you have built and run fully fledged media companies.

It’s no wonder then that it’s time for us to graduate to a bigger, better and more accessible facility to help you continue to experiment and create. A stone’s throw from King’s Cross’ international transport hub, the new London Space is a stunning 20,000 square foot facility with street-level access, cutting-edge production equipment, and three fully equipped studios and sound stages. We’ll continue to run training programs that are open to creators at the start of their YouTube journey, while creators with over 10,000 subscribers can book in to use our studio Spaces for free. So whether you’re mastering the basics or keen to try out the latest VR technology - from filming in 360 to live streaming in 4K (!) - we’re here to support you.

So whether you’re giving your philosophy degree away for free, like Philosophy Tube, or keen to create a Christmas horror special, like TomSka, the new London Space will keep you at the cutting edge of of creativity and provide a space for you to learn, connect and create with an incredible and growing community of YouTube creators. See you in Kings Cross!

Marc Joynes, Manager of the YouTube Space London recently watched Tom Scott describe why snow and confetti can ruin YouTube video quality. Very informative, educational and unique to YouTube!

Introducing the NextUp Summer Class of 2016 at YouTube Space NY and LA

Monday, August 8, 2016

Creators,

Earlier this year we announced YouTube NextUp was back in action for 2016. Since then, we’ve held seven programs across seven countries and have loved watching NextUp grads go on to create some seriously awesome videos.

We’re super excited to announce the Summer Class of 2016 for our NextUp contest in New York and Los Angeles this month. Drum roll please….

The winning channels for YouTube Space NY are:
Amy Schmittauer
Answers With Joe
backtrackvocals
Crystal Joy
DIY Tyler
Hannah Hoffman
Joe Edelman
Joey Ahern
Kyla Laird
Melissa Denise
MikeAndLaurenTV
Natalie Barbu
Nick Ferry
PolymomoTea
Sensational Finds
The Vegetarian Baker

The winning channels for YouTube Space LA are:
Alli Cherry
Andru Edwards
Ashlee Marie Cakes
AsianGlow
BrettLarkinYoga
BriansThing
Chris Commisso
Claire Ryann
FlavCity with Bobby Parrish
Freakin Rad
GoBillyKorean
Riley J. Dennis
Keishanista
Long Long Honeymoon
Mr Otter Art Studio
PictureFit
Professor Dave Explains
Sierra Schultzzie

NextUp winners get to be a part of a weeklong creator camp at YouTube Space NY and LA. While there, they’ll team up with production experts to learn about and perfect their camera work, lighting, and sound – and receive coaching from the YouTube Partnerships team on how to grow their audience like a pro. They’ll also get to listen to previous YouTube NextUp grads talk about their journeys on YouTube and meet and work with other fast-rising creators in the program.

Winners also receive a few other super sweet prizes suchs as a $2,500 voucher for production equipment, strategy consultations from a YouTube Partner Manager and invites to exclusive events.

Congrats to all winners!

Liam Collins, Director of YouTube Spaces, Americas, recently watched Algorhythm Ft. Craig Benzine

Creator Blog