YouTube launched in 2005 as a video sharing platform, and was acquired by Google (now Alphabet) in 2006. It has built an entire community of creators that run channels dedicated to topics like gaming, tech reviews, and beauty. It also houses news videos and entertainment such as music videos, movie trailers, and clips from late-night TV shows.
YouTube’s rapid growth has not been without problems. YouTubers typically make money from ads that run in front of their videos, but if they break the platform’s rules, their channels and videos can be demonetized. Executives and moderators have worked to combat harassment, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, hate content, and other abuse.
The Verge runs two YouTube channels, The Verge and Verge Science.
You can now preview thousands of audiobooks from the Google Play Books channel on YouTube — in addition to the previews already available in the Play Store. Google has also expanded its selection of free nonfiction ebooks for kids.
The split screen feature that pulls in up to four channels at once launched on smart TVs last year, and iOS last month — now it’s Android’s turn. Google spokesperson Allison Toh confirmed to The Verge that the launch started today, and said it’ll roll out to all Android phones and tablets over the next few weeks.
We warned you about pause ads nearly six years ago, and again when YouTube started trialing them last May. Now, Google’s Philipp Schindler says the results of that trial is that advertisers unsurprisingly love them!
They are driving strong results and “commanding premium pricing from advertisers,” he said on today’s earnings call. No news about a wider rollout, but...
According to the WSJ, Amazon, YouTube, and Peacock are all in the mix alongside incumbents Warner and Disney, with the possibility of snagging global streaming rights for some games.
When these deals kick in after 2024-2025, they’ll exist alongside the three-headed effort from Disney, Fox, and WBD, standalone ESPN, Netflix and the WWE, the NBA’s FAST channel and who knows what else.
YouTube’s livestream from the music festival is available once again, as it will be through 2026 at least. This year it includes NFL-style multiview in YouTube’s TV apps so you can keep an eye on more than one broadcast.
The schedule is available here, and hopefully, this weekend, everyone will know how to use their equipment properly.
First spotted by 9to5Google, YouTube Music’s Activity feed will appear under the bell icon that most users associate with notifications.
It’s widely rolling out today on both Android and iOS via a server-side update.
In an interview with Bloomberg, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan doesn’t confirm whether OpenAI used YouTube videos to train its text-to-video AI model — but he says it would be a “clear violation” of the platform’s policies if it did:
When a creator uploads their hard work to our platform, they have certain expectations. One of those expectations is that the terms of service is going to be abided by. It does not allow for things like transcripts or video bits to be downloaded.
The company is now autogenerating key moments in “any video” viewed on televisions, says YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, who shared a three-hour example.
In addition to announcing a June 10th date for WWDC 2024, Apple also revealed an official YouTube channel that currently houses the sessions from WWDC 2023.
Apple previously only made videos from WWDC available from its developer website and app, but bringing them to YouTube should make them easier to find.
Product designer Scott Yu-Jan had the idea to marry an iPad Mini to a Mac Studio inside a 3D-printed approximation of an original Macintosh. It’s not just a fun gimmick — this thing looks delightfully practical, too.
Earlier this month, a Fortune story reported that one of X’s latest moves since Twitter entered its Musk era involves whipping up a video app for smart TVs, with one source calling it “identical” to YouTube’s own.
Assuming this video posted by app researcher Nima Owji is what Fortune’s source saw... yeah, I’d reckon there’s some resemblance.
James Channel altered an original copy of NES Open Tournament Golf so that it can both be played on a Nintendo Entertainment and used as a fully-functioning Nintendo Entertainment System.
Or it can play itself, like some sort of Mariourobouros.
Police investigating suspected Bitcoin money laundering wanted info on viewers of certain tutorial videos viewed over 30,000 times, Forbes reported.
The court orders show the government telling Google to provide the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the YouTube videos between January 1 and January 8, 2023. The government also wanted the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the videos.
The documents reportedly don’t reveal whether Google gave over the information.
Pitchfork exploded as the music industry changed, then was cut down to size by another wave of technological change. Was that it?
Faruk from the iPhonedo YouTube channel wants to lay the online “drama” around Apple’s scratch-prone case to rest. So he spruced up the grossest one he says he could find on eBay.
After bringing it back to life, he has a message about product upkeep for his viewers. Text alone doesn’t do his delivery justice — keep your ears open around the 7:30 mark.
A Reddit commenter posted a screenshot today showing what they said is the Hum to Search option in the YouTube Music on iOS
Google has let you search by humming a tune for years and started testing it in the Android YouTube app in August. Like 9to5Google, I’m not seeing it on my own iOS or Android devices. Are you?
It appears Google is further optimizing YouTube Music for podcasts as it prepares to sunset Google Podcasts at the end of this month.
9to5Google reports spotting a line of code that indicates it is building out a “trim silence feature,” which is standard on Google Podcasts and other podcast listening apps. It automatically skips long stretches of silence that appear in an episode, saving the listener a bit of time.
In a message on X, the trendsetting 25-year-old YouTuber known for frenetically paced videos like “I Adopted EVERY Dog In A Dog Shelter” reveals that he’s “slowed down” and focused on storytelling over the past year, which he says brought in even more views.
Even longer videos may be on the horizon. Puck News reported that Amazon is close to signing a $100 million deal with Mr. Beast for a new talk show series.
On this special episode of Decoder, Complexly co-founder and YouTuber Hank Green turns the tables on Nilay Patel.
It’s... pretty clear why Apple, specifically, would have gotten cold feet about showing this Curb Your Enthusiasm-style skit, imagining him as an app reviewer.
This was reportedly made for 2014’s WWDC. It probably won’t be on YouTube for long, so enjoy this unlisted video while it lasts.
Travelers and those with finicky Wi-Fi can rejoice as offline downloading is starting to show up in YouTube Music’s web app, according to Android Police and 9to5Google. One user on Reddit posted screenshots of a “Save to Library” button, as well as a new “Downloads” tab.
Offline downloads of songs have been limited to YouTube Music’s mobile apps and only for Premium members. It seems likely the desktop feature will also remain a Premium perk.
It’s about codecs and resolution. 4K-and-up videos only use either YouTube’s VP9 codec or the royalty-free AV1. Christian Selig, developer of the Juno YouTube app, writes that 360 video of the former can’t work because it requires Apple’s blessing. And the Vision Pro’s M2 chip has no AV1 hardware decoder, so that’s out, too.
Why not 1080p, he asks? Because it looks like doo-doo.
[christianselig.com]
We’re increasingly seeing YouTubers try their hand at product development. It’s a logical next step in expanding income beyond YouTube ad revenue, and now Marques Brownlee is joining the fray.
Today he announced that he’s joined the board at Ridge, an accessories company best known for wallets, and will also become the brand’s “chief creative partner.”
