Author Archives: John G. Doe

Roll out the YouTube Red carpet! Our first YouTube Red Originals premiere February 10

The wait is over! On February 10, we’ll premiere the first of our YouTube Red Originals. In addition to getting all of YouTube uninterrupted and a premium YouTube Music experience, a YouTube Red membership will now give you exclusive access to new original series and movies from some of our top creators, beginning with these first four:

  • A Trip to Unicorn Island: From the team at Astronauts Wanted, this feature-length movie gives fans an extraordinary look inside the life and journey of Lilly Singh as she embarks on a challenging 26-city global tour where she has to remember to practice what she preaches: happiness is the only thing worth fighting for.
  • Dance Camp: This feature film from AwesomenessTV weaves an amazing story of unlikely friendships, unleashing passions and discovering yourself all through the power of dance.
  • Lazer Team: In this feature-length action-comedy from Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen Films, four small-town losers stumble upon an alien ship carrying a mysterious cargo, leading to a battle to save Earth from an all-powerful enemy.
  • Scare PewDiePie: In this reality-adventure series from the creator and executive producers of “The Walking Dead” at Skybound Entertainment and Maker Studios, experience thrills, chills and laughter as PewDiePie encounters terrifying situations inspired by his favorite video games.

The diverse, dynamic creators behind these films have already built massive audiences on YouTube, rivaling many cable shows. With YouTube Red Originals, we want to help them tell bigger and bolder stories that delight you, their fans. YouTube Red is your opportunity to support the passion projects your favorite creators have only dreamed about until now. If you haven’t already, sign up here for a YouTube Red membership and the first month is on us.

And these series and movies are just the beginning. We have lots more thrills, chills, LOLs, smiles, romances and surprises from more of your favorite YouTube stars coming later this year. In the meantime, check out our new YouTube Red Originals channel to stay up to date on the latest clips, teasers and trailers for our series and movies.

If you live in a country where YouTube Red hasn’t launched yet, never fear! We’ve got you covered. Click here for more details on when these new series and movies will be available in your country and how you can watch them.

Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content, YouTube, recently watched "Snowboarding With the NYPD."

Source: YouTube Blog


Countdown to the Big Game begins with YouTube

Whether it was the heartfelt family story or that we couldn’t resist a good revenge, football-related content on YouTube has been getting bigger each year, with fans tuning in to watch food, music, comedy and highlight videos all related to the Big Game. Last year, we hit a new record on YouTube - with 840 million minutes worth of Big Game ads watched on YouTube, more than twice as much as the previous year.1

For the past seven years, we’ve been watching and voting for our favorite Big Game ad on YouTube AdBlitz - a one-stop place where you can catch all the action around the Big Game. This year, tune in to our AdBlitz website before, during and after the game to find:
  • Game Day commercials: Missed out on an ad because of a snack run? Tune in to YouTube AdBlitz on game day to easily find and watch all the ads in one place. Last year, more than 300,000 hours of Big Game ads were watched on YouTube while the game was being played.2 In fact, during the game watchtime for ads surpasses watchtime for other well-known YouTube genres, like how-to videos.
  • Teaser gallery: Starting today, the YouTube AdBlitz will host a gallery of Big Game ad teaser videos. Each year, advertisers release their game day ads earlier and earlier on YouTube, and are even creating teaser ads for their ads. Brands that release their ad on YouTube before the game receive an average of 2.2x more views than those that waited until game day to post an ad.3 Tune in now to be in the know.
  • Original content: We invited some of your favorite YouTube Creators to produce an exclusive series for YouTube AdBlitz themed "How to Win Game Day" that we’ll release the week leading up to the game. The series will be hosted by Jake and Amir with Flula as the band leader. And we’ll also release football-themed videos from some of our biggest creators, including videos from MyLifeAsEva, Hannah Hart and fouseyTUBE.
  • Vote for your favorite: Don’t forget to have your say on your favorite ad. After the game ends, visit the YouTube AdBlitz website to vote for and share your favorite commercials. You can start voting as soon as the game ends on February 7 and will have until 11:59 p.m. ET on February 10 to cast your vote.



There are millions of moments that bring everyone together during live events - the play that clinches the game, or that “left shark” performance during the halftime show. To help brands be a part of these conversations in a way that's timely and relevant, today we're opening our Real-time ads beta to more brands including Wix.com, and we plan to roll it out more broadly later this year. With Real-time ads, brands will be able to instantly run an ad across YouTube, hundreds of thousands of apps, and over 2 million sites in our Google Display Network with a message that ties directly to the big moment people just experienced live.

Check out YouTube AdBlitz today to watch ad teasers ahead of the game. Then tune in on game day to watch and vote for your favorite ads. To learn more about how we watch football-related content on YouTube, visit our YouTube Trends Report to catch up on more stats.

Posted by Natalie Marchant, YouTube Sponsorships Program Manager, recently watched “Aaron Rodgers' Amazing Hail Mary: The Miracle in Motown! | Packers vs. Lions | NFL.”

Sources:
  1. Google Data, January–December 2015 vs. January–December 2014, Global, Classification as a football related "food," "video game," "sports," "comedy and humor," "advertising" or "music" video was based on public data such as headlines, tags, etc., and may not account for every such video available on YouTube.
  2. Google Data February 1, 2015. Global. Classification as a “big game” ad or “how-to” video was based on public data such as headlines, tags, etc., and may not account for every such video available on YouTube.
  3. Pixability Industry Study. Super Bowl 2015 YouTube Ads.

Source: YouTube Blog


YouTube Creators Live From Tomorrow’s #DemDebate

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”

Source: YouTube Blog


YouTube creators interview President Obama following his final State of the Union

(Cross-posted from the Google Blog.)

"We're going to have 21st century fireside chats where I'll speak directly to the American people in a way that I think will enhance democracy and strengthen our government. “ - Senator Barack Obama, November 15, 2007

Tomorrow evening, President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress, which will broadcast live on YouTube. Then, as he has every year after the speech, he’ll turn to YouTube and Google to take questions from Americans about the issues that matter to them.

This Friday, January 15, Destin Sandlin, Ingrid Nilsen, and Adande Thorne—three popular YouTube creators—will travel to Washington, D.C. to host a live YouTube Interview with President Obama. They’ll join the President in the East Room of the White House, asking a selection of questions that are top of mind for them and their fans. You can watch the whole thing on the White House YouTube channel—and if you have a question for the President, suggest it by using the hashtag #YouTubeAsksObama on social media.

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The interview will stream live on the White House YouTube channel at 2:15 p.m. EST. And don’t forget to tune in on January 12 at 9 p.m. EST to watch the State of the Union address live, as well as the Republican response, live on YouTube.

Throughout his time in office, President Obama has used technology to open up the doors (all 412 of them) to the White House—from posting behind-the-scenes photos of life in the West Wing to uploading a weekly address on the most pressing topics facing the nation. We’re excited to have played a role in this process with our seven YouTube Interviews, tackling issues big and small, poignant and personal. We look forward to helping future presidents connect with Americans in compelling ways.

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, Google Politics

Source: YouTube Blog


Chat it up, streamers! New Live Chat, Fan Funding & Sponsorships APIs

From the moment YouTube Gaming launched in August, we’ve consistently seen a pair of requests from our community: “Where are the chat bots? Where are the stream overlays?” A number of developers were happy to oblige, and some great new tools have launched for YouTube streamers.

With those new tools have come some feedback on our APIs. Particularly, that there aren’t enough of them. So much is happening on YouTube live streams -- chatting, fan funding, sponsoring -- but there’s no good way to get the data out and into the types of apps that streamers want, like on-screen overlays, chat moderation bots and more.

Well well, what have we here? A whole bunch of new additions to the Live Streaming API, getting you access to all those great chat messages, fan funding alerts and new sponsor messages!

  • Fan Funding events, which occur when a user makes a one-time voluntary payment to support a creator.
  • Live Chat events, which allow you to read the content of a YouTube live chat in real time, as well as adding new chat messages on behalf of the authenticated channel.
  • Live Chat bans, which enable the automated application of chat “time-outs” and “bans.”
  • Sponsors, which allows access to a list of YouTube users that are sponsoring the channel. A sponsor provides recurring monetary support to a creator and receives special benefits.

In addition, we’ve closed a small gap in the LiveBroadcasts API by adding the ability to retrieve and modify the LiveBroadcast object for a channel’s “Stream now” stream.

As part of the development process we gave early access to a few folks, and we’re excited to show off some great integrations that launch today:

  • Using our new Sponsorships feature? Discord will let you offer your sponsors access to private voice and text servers.
  • Add live chat, new sponsors and new fan funding announcements to an overlay with the latest beta of Gameshow.
  • Looking for some help with moderating and managing your live chat? Try out Nightbot, a chat bot that can perform a variety of moderating tasks specifically designed to create a more efficient and friendly environment for your community.
  • Show off your live chat with an overlay in XSplit Broadcaster using their new YouTube Live Chat plugin.

We’ve also spotted some libraries and sample code on Github that might help get you started, including this chat library in Go and this one in Python.

We hope these new APIs can bring whole new categories of tools to the creator community. We’re excited to see what you build!

Marc Chambers, Developer Relations, recently watched ”ArmA 3| Episode 1|Pilot the CH53 E SS.”

YouTube and NBC News present Democratic primary debate in South Carolina

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.”

Source: YouTube Blog


Watch Jay Leno, Veritasium, a-ha, Jason Derulo and more LIVE from the Nobel Peace Prize Concert!

What do talk show host Jay Leno, YouTube star Derek Muller, Norwegian band a-ha, and singer Jason Derulo have in common? They are all part of the star-studded slate of hosts and performers at this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Concert. And for the first time this year, you don’t have to be in Oslo to have front row seats to the event! The above acts and more, including MØ, KYGO, AURORA, and Emel Mathlouhti, will be live streamed directly to the Nobel Peace Prize Concert YouTube channel, so you can watch from wherever you are and on any Internet-connected device.

Exclusive to the live stream, YouTube star Derek Muller of Veritasium will host a backstage pre-show to give you a unique look at what goes on behind-the-scenes.

 

In its 22nd year, the Nobel Peace Prize Concert celebrates the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize award and this year is held in honor of the National Dialogue Quartet from Tunisia for their contribution to building a democracy in their homeland.

Be sure to tune in starting at 1:30 p.m. EST (19:30 CET) today, December 11, to watch the live stream at www.YouTube.com/NobelPeaceConcert and follow online at #NobelPeacePrizeConcert

Zayna Aston, YouTube Communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa, recently watched "YouTube Rewind: Now Watch Me 2015."

Source: YouTube Blog


Celebrating what you created, watched and shared in 2015 with #YouTubeRewind and YouTube’s new Trending tab

In 2015, you introduced the world to the latest dance crazes, opened up discussions about diversity and inclusion, and lip-synced in cars and onstage in front of millions. The trends you participated in and the creativity you shared defined the year on YouTube in a bigger way than ever before.

It's time to celebrate. More than 150 YouTube creators from all over the world got together to relive not just the best moments of 2015, but also some of the most memorable viral clips from YouTube history (hey, it’s still our 10th birthday year for a few more days yet …). The result: the 2015 installment of our annual Rewind video, featuring everything from YouTube dance prodigies, some of your favorite TV personalities, an epic plastic ball fight, and even a remix from Avicii.

 

And there’s more. Celebrate some of your favorite moments on YouTube through our official top trending videos of 2015, based on the amount of time people spent watching, sharing, commenting, liking, and more. Topped by one of the year's biggest dance trends, these videos were watched for over 25 million hours and were created by powerhouse channels with over 40 million subscribers between them.

For the first time, not just one, but four television moments made the top Trending Videos list. Three are late night TV videos of widely popular YouTube trends: the lip sync battle, the in-car singalongs, and the reading of mean tweets. You all love late night TV on YouTube—the time people spent catching up on late-night clips like Corden, Fallon and Kimmel nearly doubled in the last year alone!

  1. Silento- Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn by Tianne King
  2. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial) by Clash of Clans
  3. Crazy Plastic Ball PRANK!! by RomanAtwood
  4. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council by Ad Council
  5. Lip Sync Battle with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
  6. Justin Bieber Carpool Karaoke by The Late Late Show with James Corden
  7. 6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon - 4K - The Slow Mo Guys by The Slow Mo Guys
  8. Golden boy Calum Scott hits the right note | Audition Week 1 | Britain's Got Talent 2015 by Britain's Got Talent
  9. Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off) by Dover Police
  10. Mean Tweets - President Obama Edition by Jimmy Kimmel Live

When it comes to music, 2015 saw some of our fastest-rising videos of all time. Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" reached over 1 billion views in just 6 months and Adele reached the year's top 10 in just a few weeks. The top 10 music videos collectively have more than 66 million subscribers, and people spent over 37,000 years playing them in 2015.

  1. Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack
  2. Maroon 5 - Sugar
  3. Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (Official Video)
  4. Major Lazer & DJ Snake - Lean On (feat. MØ) (Official Music Video)
  5. Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar
  6. David Guetta - Hey Mama (Official Video) ft Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack
  7. Sia - Elastic Heart feat. Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler (Official Video)
  8. Fifth Harmony - Worth It ft. Kid Ink
  9. Adele - Hello
  10. Silentó - Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) (Official)

...and check out even more top music videos.

And if you love staying on top of the most-anticipated new trailers, hottest music videos, and viral clips from YouTube creators, today we unveil the new YouTube Trending tab. This new tab in your YouTube app delivers the top trending videos directly to your Android, iOS, and desktop device. It's the best way to catch the videos, creators, and trends that people watch, share, and talk about each and every day. See 'em as they take off and before they appear in YouTube Rewind 2016. And for more Rewind fun, check out the YouTube Rewind channel!

Kevin Allocca, Head of Culture & Trends, and the YouTube Rewind team, recently watched “YouTube Rewind: Now Watch Me 2015 | #YouTubeRewind.”

Source: YouTube Blog


And the top ads of 2015 on YouTube are…

Each year, we look at the top trending videos on YouTube -- the ones viewers chose to watch, share, and watch again. And every year, we see that brands are continuing to raise the bar to make great ads on YouTube -- ads that viewers are choosing to watch, share, and watch again.

Today we’re releasing our YouTube Ads Leaderboard for 2015, highlighting the top 10 most popular ads of the year determined by factors including watch time, organic video views, engagement and audience retention. From crushing stereotypes to sharing heartfelt messages, these videos represent the most popular ads watched by YouTube viewers around the world.

While their messages may be unique, one unifying theme of these top trending ads is that they all went mobile. Collectively we watched these top ads more than 470 million times this year, and nearly two-thirds of these views took place on mobile. For the first time ever, more people watched the top 10 ads of the year on mobile devices than on desktop devices.

So without further ado, here are the top trending ads on YouTube in 2015:

  1. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial)
  2. Hyundai : A Message to Space
  3. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council
  4. Boom Beach: Speech (Official TV Commercial)
  5. adidas: Unfollow feat. Leo Messi
  6. Always #LikeAGirl - Unstoppable
  7. Durex - #Connect - Official
  8. Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge - Official Introduction
  9. "Slap her": children's reactions
  10. Budweiser USA: #BestBuds | 2015 Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial “Lost Dog”

For more on the top ads lists for the year, visit Think with Google.

Meredith Argeris, YouTube Marketing, recently watched "Imagine the Possibilities | Barbie."

Source: YouTube Blog


Climate change affects the things we love. #OursToLose

From seasons to octopuses and chocolate, environmental issues stand to impact the things we love. What if we could help change the way people discuss climate change, so that the issue and its consequences could become more relevant and tangible to people around the world?

Leading up to COP21, a conference which will bring leaders from around the world together to develop a global climate agreement, we’re encouraging the YouTube community to join the discussion by uploading their own videos that share their concerns about how environmental issues may impact the things they love. The conversation on YouTube will live through a simple hashtag: #OursToLose.

 

With the help of YouTube creators from around the world, including Casey Neistat (U.S.), Finn Harries (U.K.), Golden Moustache (France), Jamie Curry (New Zealand) and Flavia Calina (Brazil), we’re also encouraging people to show further support by signing the Avaaz petition, a campaign aimed at delivering clean energy worldwide by 2050.

Whether you’re questioning how global warming can impact your day-to-day life, curious about new sources of energy, or concerned about the melting Arctic, we hope that you share your ideas through #OursToLose videos to help make the climate conversation more accessible to people around the world.

The YouTube community can empower tremendous collaboration, advocacy, and creativity. Through #OursToLose, we hope to continue helping people to broadcast their message, empower their communities, and even catalyze a global movement to further action on climate change.



Marc Hertz, Programming Coordinator, recently watched “Misconceptions about Climate Change” and Aaron Taylor, Associate Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "What's Possible: The UN Climate Summit Film."

Source: YouTube Blog