Category: YouTube

YouTube has begun sending emails out to content producers on the changes that are coming next month to how they can monetize their channels.  The email lays out the new requirements in order to have access to the ad monetizing tools and that access will end starting February 28, 2018 if you do not meet the requirements.

Those new YouTube requirements are pretty steep.  You have to have 1000 subscribers but the higher hurdle is the requirement for 4000 watch time hours over the previous 12 months.  This last requirement will eliminate many channels from being able to monetize.

Ah, the love between Amazon and Google shows itself once more…. NOT!  It appears that the latest spat between the two giants is over YouTube and the newish Amazon Echo Show.

Users of the new Alexa-powered smart device were cut off from YouTube yesterday with a warning that the smart speaker was unable to play content from the world’s largest video site.  Amazon states that they are disappointed, laying the blame at the feet of Google.  Google, in return, indicates that the reason for the shutdown is due to a violation of the terms of service and that they made Amazon aware that Tuesday was the drop date.

After experimenting with it in the beta channel, then doing a bit of A/B testing, it seems that Google is finally ready to roll out bottom navigation in the YouTube app.  The update is a combination of an app update, which happened last week, and a server-side update, which is happening now.  Assuming you have the former, the later should be coming to you over the course of the next few hours.

Once you have it, gone will be the top tab navigation for Home, Trending, Subscriptions, Shared and Library.  Instead, they are all clearly identified on the bottom of the display in the streaming content app.

A new version of the YouTube app for Android is rolling out in the Play Store, bringing a new double-tap gesture to rewind or advance the video you are watching by 10 seconds.  The new gesture works exactly as you would expect.  If you double-tap the right side of the video you are watching, you will advance 10 seconds into the video.  Double-tap the left side and you go back 10 seconds.  No more having to use the seek bar to try to go forward or get back on a video.

The new feature is something that should make video viewing a bit easier and faster to navigate.

[Editors Note:  Due to the political nature of this post, no comments will be approved]

On Friday, January 20th, the United States will see the swearing in of our 45th President, Donald Trump.  Regardless of where you stand politically, the swearing in of a President is a big event and you will be able to stream it live on YouTube.  YouTube will give viewers live streams from multiple sources throughout the day including the swearing in ceremony and the inauguration speech of the President.  You can view those streams from any device.

As part of the coverage, some channels will be offering 360-degree views and 4K streaming.

On their official YouTube channel, Google has released another series of short videos highlighting a service of the company.  This new series is titled Meet Data and the seven videos show you how the company uses data to help you.  Using examples of how search works to how Google Maps helps you find that location you are looking for, the videos outline how Google uses big data to help you in that process.  Each video also points out that data security and privacy is important.