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.
The race is on to find out: TechCrunch reports that TikTok is testing 15-minute video uploads, an increase of 5 minutes from the current max time. YouTube, meanwhile, is all in with Shorts as its answer to TikTok’s vertical, mobile-first format.
Michigan State is “deeply sorry” for the 40-foot-tall (my quick estimate) picture of a certain WWII-era genocidal dictator on the gigantic digital scoreboard at Spartan Stadium during Saturday night’s football game against Michigan University.
The picture showed up during a pre-game pop quiz the school may have been streaming from a YouTube channel. The channel’s owner commented today that they weren’t aware the school was using their content, calling it “unsolicited and unauthorized use.”
According to The Washington Post, associate athletic director Matt Larson said it was “inappropriate content by a third-party source,” and the school promises to better vet content for the screen going forward.
Update October 22nd, 3:12PM ET: Added comment from TheQuizChannel owner.
[The Washington Post]
YouTube’s been cracking down on ad blocker usage this year. I’m fine coughing up $14 a month for YouTube Premium, but I can’t help but be amused at the user agent workaround Enderman posted yesterday (spotted by Windows Central).
Using a Google-made Chrome extension, you can put a digital name tag on your browser that basically says, “Hello! My Name is Windows Phone,” and YouTube won’t show you ads.
YouTube hasn’t specifically said that turning your browser into three Windows Phones in a trenchcoat is against its terms of service, but all the same: Proceed at your own risk.
The DOJ was granted (PDF) a stay of an injunction barring DHS, CISA, FBI, and other federal officials from contact with social media platforms about content moderation. The judge who wrote the injunction this summer claimed their requests about posts containing covid misinformation amounted to a violation of the First Amendment.
An appeals court limited the terms of the ban last month but paused the process to see if the Supreme Court would weigh in. Now it will hear the DOJ’s appeal, over dissent from three justices (Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch).
I’ve seen a few videos on TikTok, where people are amazed at the phenomenon of little eclipse shadows casting through trees.
If you’re curious why this happens, Sci Show made a good explainer a few years ago. These shadows are one of the ways to watch an eclipse happen.
The company lost an appeal to overturn a ruling about two commercials for YouTube TV, as reported by Ars Technica. YouTube TV now starts at $72.99 after a price hike earlier this year.
Reading between the lines of YouTube chief Neal Mohan’s comments onstage here at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference in Los Angeles, the streaming giant may have its hands full with NFL Sunday Ticket.
“We’re taking it one step at a time right now,” he said after being asked about the NBA. “The NFL Sunday ticket is a big area of focus for us.”
President Joe Biden is about to announce some new actions to combat junk fees and the White House is streaming the event, as per usual, on YouTube.
When I opened the stream, I got this convenient little pop-up! Interesting placement, YouTube TV.
Reuters reports that X (fka Twitter), YouTube, and Telegram were sent notices by India’s federal Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) requesting prompt and permanent removal of any child sexual abuse material.
“If they do not act swiftly, their safe harbour under section 79 of the IT Act would be withdrawn and consequences under the Indian law will follow,” India’s junior minister for Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, was quoted as saying in the statement.
None of the platforms have been able to entirely block that material, but some may have more trouble with the request than others.
I asked if Google was starting to show the prompt to more people, but spokesperson Christopher Lawton pointed back to a statement from June defining the prompt as a “small experiment globally.”
Personally, I’m wondering if it has something to do with my switch yesterday from Chrome to Safari — perhaps my Safari ad blocker is getting caught by YouTube more easily? But let me know if you’ve started to see the prompt more often as of late, too.
Update October 6th, 1:20PM ET: Thanks for the responses! Many seemed to be from people using non-Chrome browsers, so I asked Lawton about that. He says the experiment is browser agnostic, “meaning we are not targeting any specific browsers.”
9to5Google spotted a change in the Android YouTube app that removes the “Library” tab from the bottom of the app, replacing it with a new “You” tab that takes you to the same place but with some slight differences. I see the same in the iOS app, while my colleague Victoria Song does not.
Other things have shuffled around a bit — YouTube Premium benefits are now in the You tab instead of tucked in the menu that tapping your profile picture in the top right used to show, for instance.
Don’t bother trying to open up your brand-new Apple Watch S9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 — iFixit has done it for you.
The quick jaunt through the watches’ guts will look familiar if you’ve ever seen one of iFixit’s Apple Watch teardowns, but there are some small differences to be found inside, like a higher-capacity, hard-shell battery in both.
NPR reports that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has been on the meme train for years, has released an album called We’re Safety Now Haven’t We.
Its seven tracks remind you to wear a helmet, not to look at your phone while walking, and uh, not to shoot fireworks at other people.
Honestly, they’re kind of bops? Is that what you say? Sorry, I’m 40.
When the scroll wheel on my seven-year-old MX Master got stuck in free-spinning mode, I nearly bought a new mouse. Instead, I found this excellent YouTube video and fixed the dang thing in under fifteen minutes.
This is just today’s example, and today’s appreciation post for the people who upload DIY repair videos. You’re the real MVPs.
The company dropped a new track from Sonic Superstars, the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog sidescroller, on YouTube this week (via BleedingCool).
It’s everything a sonic tune should be — catchy, energetic, jazzy synth filled with earworm riffs. It is, in fact, a bop. Its October 17th release date can’t come fast enough.
