Tag
YouTube
Instagram tests 90-minute videos as short-form platforms reverse course on length
Instagram is testing horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long in a format called Features, after spending four years pushing Reels. The test arrives with no ad revenue share for creators and a different distribution model than the IGTV format it retired in 2022.
YouTube's Shorts Series turns scroll into binge as creators build 60-second episodic shows
Microdramas hit 6.5 billion views in the first half of 2026, and YouTube has given creators the infrastructure to turn Shorts into serialized TV. The shift gives social media marketers a blueprint for narrative campaigns that extend engagement beyond single-hit posts.
Twitch will now distribute streamers' clips to Instagram and YouTube through partners, shifting who controls off-platform growth
Recaps Spotlight hands clip distribution to unnamed third parties, marking Twitch's first systematic push to promote creator content beyond its own walls. The change is opt-in, Partners-only for now, and raises as many questions as it answers.
YouTube partners with Bloomsbury to turn ACOTAR's book launch into a branded fandom activation
The platform ships a custom Shorts quiz, Starfall progress bars and BookTube creator content to mark the sixth ACOTAR novel. The playbook works for any IP with an existing fan base.
YouTube revamps channel memberships for microdramas as views pass 6.5 billion and APAC growth hits 70%
YouTube is rebuilding the membership experience for episodic Shorts after microdramas surpassed 6.5 billion views in the first half of 2026. The shift gives creators a subscription path that competes with microdrama apps charging viewers per episode.
YouTube beats TV and movies as Gen Z's top storytelling platform, but 73% won't cast the influencers brands are paying for
UCLA's Teens and Screens Report shows 72.9% of 10 to 24 year olds rank YouTube as the best medium for storytelling, yet only 16.8% would cast an influencer in a leading role. The gap between where audiences find stories and who they want in them forces brands to rethink how YouTube creator partnerships actually translate to other formats.
YouTube tests burying the dislike button on standard videos as platform quietly dismantles negative feedback signals
YouTube is testing hiding the dislike button inside the three-dot menu on long-form videos, mirroring the pattern that preceded removal on Shorts. For social marketers, it's another data point disappearing from quality assessment and another reminder that platform feedback systems are built for platform goals, not yours.
YouTube's 50MB playlist image limit removes the last technical barrier between brands and programmatic content organisation
The YouTube Data API now accepts playlist thumbnails up to 50MB, a 25x increase that mirrors September's video thumbnail update and closes the gap between what the platform interface supports and what scheduling tools can automate.
YouTube's generative AI report reveals how identity, not utility, drives personal video creation
A YouTube Culture & Trends study shows 72% of uploaders use AI on video, but most aren't chasing productivity. They're inserting themselves into content to explore emotion, passion and who they are.
YouTube's sidebar layout forces marketers to rethink how audiences engage with comments and metadata
The platform is testing a desktop redesign that shifts comments and video details into a right-hand panel. For social media marketers, the change rewrites how audiences consume context and participate in community discussions.
YouTube now edges TV for US political news, forcing brands to rethink issue-led content distribution
Syracuse University research finds YouTube has narrowly overtaken television as Americans' primary source for political news, a shift that requires social teams to reconsider where they place advocacy and values-based content in the final weeks before an election.
YouTube's October Demand Gen update shifts performance from creative to data infrastructure
Google's latest Demand Gen Drop makes first-party data the performance variable, not the ad itself. Advertisers using Google Tag Gateway now see over 20% conversion uplift in Demand Gen campaigns, but the metric measures signal recovery, not new demand.
BBC News launches 24/7 YouTube stream as legacy broadcasters test whether platform distribution can recapture younger audiences
The trial, live since October 15 in the UK and US, follows YouTube reporting 18 billion hours of news viewing in the first half of 2026. The question is whether simulcasting solves an audience problem or simply moves it to someone else's infrastructure.
One-off brand deals still dominate influencer marketing despite industry's long-term partnership talk
New US data shows 69% of Instagram, 72% of TikTok and 49% of YouTube collaborations remain single-activation despite marketers insisting they want retention. The gap between what brands say and how they structure budgets reveals where influencer marketing is actually failing.
YouTube raises Partner Program entry bar to 8,000 watch hours from February 2027
The first change to creator monetisation requirements since 2018 doubles the entry threshold for new applicants and introduces a rolling 10 million view floor for Shorts revenue, forcing smaller creators to rethink YouTube as an early-stage income platform.
YouTube's 20,000 creator survey reveals Europe's €8.4 billion economy is locked out of policy and funding
Two-thirds of European creators receive no government support, despite contributing more to GDP than many legacy sectors. YouTube's Creative Capital report exposes the structural barriers holding back an export economy built by entrepreneurs regulators don't officially recognise.
Your social content is already YouTube-ready. Here's how to actually use it.
Google's Demand Gen playbook now centres on repurposing existing social assets into YouTube ads, backed by Gemini-powered tools that turn static images into video. The strategy cuts production overhead, but creative quality still decides whether campaigns convert or burn budget.
TikTok removes Instagram and YouTube profile links, forcing creators onto Linktree as platform tightens ecosystem control
TikTok has quietly stripped dedicated Instagram and YouTube link fields from creator profiles, leaving only a single website slot. It's the clearest signal yet that the platform is confident enough to stop handing audiences to competitors.
YouTube's new live tools turn reaction streams into revenue contests, but most won't ship until 2027
The platform is expanding Watch With to every long-form video and piloting live auto-dubbing and creator matchmaking battles, but the headline features are all early-2027 pilots. What ships this year is reaction content at scale.
Google puts conversational AI inside YouTube ads as Demand Gen bets on friction removal over landing pages
Business Agent for YouTube Ads allows viewers to chat with AI alongside video ads without leaving the viewing context, while one-click experiences arrive for Shorts and Gmail image ads. Google is testing whether removing the hop to a landing page matters more than getting the click.
Instagram Rings rewards creative risk with prestige, not payments, as Meta cuts direct payouts
Instagram's new physical awards programme honours 25 creators annually for cultural impact rather than follower count, but the timing reveals a platform navigating creator income in reverse.
YouTube turns Shorts into TV series to own the $8bn microdrama market before standalone apps can
Shorts Series lets creators structure vertical video into seasons and episodes across TV, mobile and web. Over half of YouTube's top 100 creators now get most views from the living room, and microdrama watch time on TV alone jumped 90% year on year.
YouTube's Made On 2026 unpacks where the platform thinks creation is heading: AI edits your Shorts, brands pay inside Studio, and microdramas hit 6.5 billion views
Over 30 product announcements at the annual event point to three clear bets. YouTube wants AI to edit for you, deals to close faster without leaving the platform, and episodic Shorts to keep viewers watching on TV.
YouTube puts five creator shows through Venice and Toronto to prove a point advertisers are supposed to notice
The platform debuted creator-led films and series at two prestigious film festivals to convince brands that YouTube's programming deserves television budgets. Whether that works depends on what happens after the premiere.
Mainstream culture hasn't disappeared. It just stopped waiting for Hollywood's permission.
New research from YouTube and NRG reveals creators and memes now rival Hollywood celebrities for cultural influence, while The Backrooms franchise shows how digital lore can build a $394 million box office hit from the bottom up.
Disney opens El Capitan red carpet to creators as entertainment's power centre shifts
Created in LA runs 17 to 18 September at the El Capitan Theatre and Walt Disney Studios lot, marking Disney's first formal recognition that creators are now storytellers on equal footing with traditional Hollywood.
YouTube's TV companion mode turns second-screen browsing into an engagement tool creators can finally measure
YouTube has shipped a major control upgrade that lets viewers browse Shorts, comment and subscribe on their phones without interrupting what's playing on TV. For creators, it solves the retention paradox that's been killing long-form watch time since the living room became YouTube's biggest screen.
Ken Burns brings classroom courses to YouTube as educational content stakes rise
The documentary filmmaker and PBS LearningMedia are putting curriculum-aligned courses on the Ken Burns YouTube channel, starting with The American Revolution. It's a signal of how seriously YouTube now treats educational credibility.
YouTube's Demand Gen now lets viewers message brands directly from video ads
Google is testing conversation starters on YouTube ads, expanding travel inventory for local activities, and rolling out AI video creation to all advertisers as part of its August Demand Gen Drop.
YouTube doubles entry bar to 8,000 watch hours while adding first ongoing performance threshold for Shorts
YouTube is doubling Partner Program entry requirements from February 2027 and introducing a rolling 10 million Shorts views threshold that will pause creator earnings. The changes reshape who gets paid and how they stay paid.
LeBron James launches YouTube golf channel, proving athlete-owned content beats rented reach
The NBA star debuted his official channel with a 90-minute Scotland reunion featuring 2016 Cavaliers teammates. For social media marketers, the move reveals why the smartest athletes are building direct audience relationships instead of relying on platforms they don't control.
YouTube doubles Partner Program entry requirements and introduces rolling Shorts threshold
From 1 February 2027, new creators need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views to monetise ads and subscriptions. Existing partners face a recurring 10 million Shorts view minimum and must accept updated terms by 31 January. The changes mark the programme's first major overhaul since 2018 and arrive alongside Premium Lite expansion and new incentive schemes for smaller channels.
YouTube's 'We Are Osos' shows where sports documentary distribution is actually heading
An eight-episode series about NFL and NBA stars buying a Mexican football team premieres exclusively on YouTube today, not Netflix or Disney+. That choice tells you everything about where premium sports content is finding its audience in 2026.
Meta's Creator Fast Track offers up to $3,000 monthly, but history suggests the money won't last
Facebook is paying TikTok and YouTube creators guaranteed bonuses for three months. The real test is what happens when the cash stops, and Meta's track record on creator payments isn't encouraging.
Substack hits 100,000 paid publications as creators use it as the loyalty layer above social
The platform doubled monetised publications in under a year, with creators treating it as the owned-audience hub fed by TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube discovery, not a replacement for algorithmic reach.
YouTube forces global membership repricing by 17 August: what creators must check now
YouTube will automatically adjust recommended membership prices for international members on 17 August 2026 to reflect current exchange rates. Creators have until the deadline to review the changes or set custom pricing, or YouTube applies its recommendations by default.
YouTube trains creators to negotiate brand deals as platforms race to formalise creator commerce
YouTube's five-part Brand Deal Desk series launched in July 2026 signals a strategic shift: platforms are no longer just hosting sponsorships but actively coaching creators to price, pitch, and structure them. The move follows YouTube's expansion of Creator Partnerships infrastructure and arrives as creator commerce matures into a $32 billion industry.
TikTok adds AI content slider: why giving users a dial, not just labels, matters
TikTok has quietly become the first major platform to let users reduce AI content in their feed with a slider control, rather than just labelling it. The shift marks a turning point in how social platforms handle the AI slop problem.
YouTube draws the line on AI content monetization: three categories that lose Partner Program access
YouTube's 16 July clarification splits inauthentic content into three distinct buckets, giving creators the clearest guidance yet on where AI-assisted work ends and unmonetizable template farming begins.
YouTube's $11 billion quarter shows why advertisers are choosing creators over cable
Alphabet's Q2 results reveal YouTube ad revenue climbed 13% to $11.06 billion, propelled by 1.7 billion World Cup viewers and a structural shift that now positions the platform as traditional media's direct competitor for living room advertising spend.
YouTube Shorts removes dislike button as platform shifts to hearts and menu-based feedback
The change, rolled out in July 2026, removes a visible negative signal from the interface and redirects creators toward watch time and swipe-away rates as their primary performance metrics.
YouTube finally lets creators upload custom Shorts thumbnails
After years of requests, YouTube Partner Program creators can now fully customise Shorts thumbnails, bringing the format in line with long-form videos and rival platforms. Plus, AI-generated thumbnails land in Ask Studio.
Creators take their $250bn industry to Washington as Congress begins to listen
The first Creator Advocacy Day saw 35 creators and industry leaders meet lawmakers to push for healthcare, tax reform, and AI protection as the US creator economy fights for recognition beyond the TikTok dancers stereotype.
YouTube Shorts ditches thumbs down for hearts: what the feedback shift means for creators
YouTube replaced binary like/dislike buttons with a heart icon and granular "Not Interested" controls in early July 2026. The change isn't cosmetic: it's a bet that clearer feedback signals will sharpen the algorithm and tell creators what dislikes never could.
YouTube rolls out global Trends page for Shorts and comment search as creators become 'the new studios'
The platform repositions creator content as studio-quality programming with new discovery and moderation tools launched globally in July 2026, as CEO Neal Mohan declares the end of dismissing creators as "simply UGC".
TikTok Streaming Ads hands Netflix and Disney+ a direct line from discovery to subscribers
TikTok launched Streaming Ads on 8 July 2026, a Smart+ powered performance format that lets streaming platforms turn the app's cultural influence into measurable subscription growth. It's the first catalog-fuelled ad solution built specifically for entertainment, and it puts TikTok in direct competition with YouTube and Meta for streaming marketing budgets.
Facebook now pays creators up to $3,000 a month to post. Here's what they have to give up.
Meta launched Creator Fast Track in March with guaranteed monthly payments for TikTok and YouTube creators willing to post Reels on Facebook. The move intensifies the platform war for creator loyalty, but it's not about money alone.
YouTube's Top Fans feature gates videos behind engagement, not payment
YouTube is testing a distribution option that restricts videos to the top 1% of a channel's most engaged viewers. Unlike memberships or Patreon, access is determined by watch time and interaction, rewarding attention instead of money.