YouTube Creators

Hi Creators! We’re aware that some of you are having issues where like, comment, and share buttons are missing from YT Shorts. The issue seems to be mostly occuring for Android users. Our teams are actively investigating this. Please follow this thread for updates: support.google.com/youtube/th... Thanks for your patience!

3 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 7,285

YouTube Creators

Expanding the ability to hype a video to new markets!

Over the past year, we’ve been testing a new feature to help smaller creators get recognized by their community and potentially be discovered by new audiences. Now, we’re expanding this feature to more countries so viewers in eligible countries will be able to “hype” a video published in the last 7 days.

Every week, viewers will be able to hype videos up to three times at no cost. The more that viewers hype a video, the more likely it is to land on a new leaderboard with other top hyped videos each week. The leaderboard will appear as a new destination under the Explore section.

For now, eligibility is limited to creators from select countries with between 500 and 500K subs, and whose videos adhere to our Community Guidelines. Full list of eligibility criteria (including the newly added countries) in our Help Center here: support.google.com/youtube/answer/15509925

We’ll continue to test and gather feedback to inform how we roll this out more broadly in the future!

1 month ago | [YT] | 4,713

YouTube Creators

Templates are coming to YouTube Create (our mobile editing app) on Android! Templates are a starting point that will help you craft content, find inspiration, and make fun videos. Templates give you full flexibility and customization within the YouTube Create app so you can also add your own unique spin on your videos!

To try out templates:

- Download YouTube Create on your Android device
- Scroll through the homepage to browse all the different templates
- Once you’ve found one you like, tap “Use template”
- Follow the prompts to import photos, videos, or previously imported media to your project
- From there, tap “Export” or go to the YouTube Create editor to use our full suite of editing tools and infuse your video with your personal style

Detailed instructions can be found in our Help Center: support.google.com/youtube/answer/16399142

Templates will gradually roll out to all creators with the YouTube Create app on Android. We can’t wait to see what you make with this feature!

1 month ago | [YT] | 3,160

YouTube Creators

[September 30, 2025] Update

Hey again!

The image and drawing transformation tools we wrote about in our original post are now available to all creators with access to Effect Maker. These tools allow creators to build AI transformation effects with just a simple text prompt, or make effects that transform a screen drawing into a whimsical creation. New templates make it easy to start creating AI effects. Log into your YouTube account at effects.youtube.com to start creating effects with these new features!

--

[August 19, 2025]

We have good news for anyone who makes their own effects or is interested in doing so! We're thrilled to announce a major expansion of Effect Maker - our web-based tool that allows eligible creators to design, publish, and manage effects to be used in YouTube Shorts.

Our goal with Effect Maker is to make Shorts creation even more fun, expressive, and collaborative. By empowering effect creators to publish their own effects directly on Shorts, we hope to foster a new level of creativity and engagement on the platform.

Ready to try out Effect Maker? Here’s what you need to know:

- Effect Maker is widely available to users who have access to advanced features and are located in one of our 85+ regions of availability
- After confirming eligibility, you can visit effects.youtube.com to start designing effects
- Once you've created and published your effect, it will be available for use to all Shorts creators
- You can also showcase your effects directly on your channel Home page
- Note: Effect Maker is only accessible via desktop / web devices at present. We don't have specific details to share about mobile expansion just yet, but we'll keep you updated
- All the details on how to get started can be found in our Help Center: yt.be/help/EMHC

Also, GenAI effect creation tools are coming to a small group of creators over the coming weeks with plans to expand to all Effect Maker creators later this year. Effect creators can build interactive and personalized effects with these generative tools - step into fantastical scenes, morph into imaginative characters, and so much more.

Get ready to see your unique visions come to life in Shorts created by other members of the YouTube community! We’ll continue to share news on this post as more Effect Maker updates are released.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 2,453

YouTube Creators

Creators: starting today, we're updating our profanity monetization policy to better align with updated standards in advertising & to address your feedback! Strong profanity in the first 7 sec is now eligible to earn full ad revenue.

This policy originally aligned YouTube's content standards with the guidelines set for TV. However, ad controls provided to advertisers today give them choices over where their ads appear based on levels of strong profanity in content. We also heard a lot of creator feedback about this specific rule.


Given these factors, we’ve decided to revise our policy to help creators. This change should help improve creator earnings, particularly for gaming creators.

More info & background on these changes in our Help Community: yt.be/help/CBqDV

2 months ago | [YT] | 7,445

YouTube Creators

Hi Creators!

Starting August 13, 2025, we’ll begin rolling out an age estimation model to determine if a US-based user is under the age of 18. This will happen regardless of the birthdate a user entered when creating their account. We’ll then use that to extend age-appropriate product experiences and protections to more teens (like enabling digital wellbeing tools and only showing non-personalized ads).

These protections for teens are not new – we now have enhanced technology to more accurately determine whether or not a user is under 18 and are now able to extend these protections to more teenagers. We’ve used this approach in other markets for some time, where it is working well and we are now gradually rolling it out to the US.

The age estimation model uses a variety of signals such as YouTube activity and longevity of the account. If we determine a user is under 18, they'll be notified. As always, they’ll have the option to verify their age (through government ID, selfie, or a credit card) if they believe our age estimation model is incorrect.

For creators, based on our age estimation model we’ll apply some additional protections including:

- Setting uploads as private by default for anyone
- Restricting the ability to earn from gifts on vertical live streams

Some creators may experience a shift in their audience categorized as teens (under 18). This may result in a decrease in ad revenue since we only serve non-personalized ads to those viewers. We estimate this will have limited impact for most creators. We’re committed to supporting creators and as always, we're investing in new solutions to help give creators more ways to grow their community and make money on YouTube.

Note: Audience reports in YouTube Analytics are currently based on the age provided by the user. We are working to update this soon.

2 months ago | [YT] | 5,392

YouTube Creators

📢 Creators: We've added new metrics for 'Casual' & 'Regular' viewers in the Audience tab in Analytics! Get deeper insights to learn more about your audience & find out what content is driving more engaged viewers. Learn more about these metrics here: yt.be/help/72oFq

2 months ago | [YT] | 6,895

YouTube Creators

We're introducing new tools designed to make Shorts creation easier and more fun!

📷 Photo to video powered by Veo 2: This feature instantly transforms any static photo from your gallery into a dynamic Short. To use Photo to video:

1) Open the main YouTube mobile app
2) Tap the ➕ (create) button
3) On the bottom left, tap “Add” for the media picker (Note: if you haven’t already, grant access to your photos and videos)
4) Select your image
5) At the top, select “Photo to video” then one of the provided suggestions
6) Tap “Create video” then choose your video settings (description, clip length, privacy, etc.) and upload from there

We're beginning to launch Photo to video in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For now, this feature is powered by Veo 2, but we’re excited to integrate Veo 3 into YouTube Shorts tools like this one in the coming months.

✨ More generative effects: A new, constantly refreshing category of generative effects. Reimagine your content with new Veo effects that transform your selfies into unique videos, and drawing effects that turn your doodles into fun images! To try these and other effects:

1) In the Shorts camera in the main YouTube mobile app, navigate to the “Effects ✨” icon in the right hand menu
2) Tap on "AI" to browse all generative effects
3) Select the effect you want to use and tap the ✔️(checkmark) button
4) Tap the 🔴 (record) button then take a selfie or sketch an image on your screen, depending on the effect you’re using
5) Review the result and tap the ✔️(checkmark) button to begin editing then upload from there

For now, these effects are powered by Veo 2, but we’re excited to integrate Veo 3 into YouTube Shorts features like these later this year.

🛝 AI playground in YouTube Shorts: Your new home for GenAI creation. Inside, you'll find our latest GenAI creation tools, a gallery of inspirational examples, and pre-filled prompts to help you instantly generate videos, images, music, and more. To access our AI playground:

1) In the Shorts camera in the main YouTube mobile app, tap the ➕ (create) button) then tap the *️(sparkle) icon in the top right corner to get started
2) From there, unlock new possibilities and create unique images, video clips, backgrounds, and music tracks! Discover compelling use cases and fresh examples with featured ideas, inspiring content, and pre-filled prompts

Our AI playground in YouTube Shorts is beginning to launch in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

These new features are beginning to roll out to Shorts creators over the next few weeks. We’ll keep you updated on our expansion plans!

2 months ago | [YT] | 4,466

YouTube Creators

Hey creators, we want to share an update about the Trending page that’s taking effect in the next couple of weeks. Back when we first launched the Trending tab in 2015, the answer to "what's trending?" was a lot simpler to capture with a singular list of viral videos that everyone was talking about. Today, trends consist of many videos created by many fandoms. Viewers increasingly learn about trends in different places across YouTube – from recommendations and search suggestions to Shorts, comments, and Communities. With these shifts, we've seen visits to the Trending page decrease significantly, especially over the last five years.

So, we're making updates to better match how people discover trending content today and will be removing the Trending page and Trending Now list. Here’s a look at how we’ll continue to highlight trends on YouTube:

📈 Shifting to charts for music, movies, & more
Although we're removing the Trending Now list, for categories like music, podcasts, and movies where top charts are the industry norm, viewers can still find popular content on YouTube Charts, including Trending Music Videos and new charts for the Weekly Top Podcast Shows and Trending Movie Trailers. We’ll continue to add more content categories to charts over time. While we’re building more charts, the Gaming Explore page will still be viewers' go-to for the Trending gaming videos

🔎 Finding trends that are all about you
Instead of a single list for everyone, we'll keep showing viewers the videos that we think they’ll love through personalized recommendations. This way, we can show a wider range of popular content that’s relevant, and it feels more natural to how viewers already find new videos. Audiences can still browse content that isn't personalized in the Explore menu, on creator channels, and in their subscriptions feed

🙌 Continuing to provide insights on trends & recognize creators
We're still focused on giving you as creators the tools to understand what’s popular with your unique audiences. The "Inspiration" tab in YouTube Studio will keep giving you personalized ideas to help you spot the next big thing for your channel. We’re also creating new ways to give up-and-coming creators a boost and help you get discovered, like our "Hype" feature that lets viewers amplify fresh videos they love. We'll still be shouting out Creators on the Rise on our official @YouTube social media and YouTube channel, so millions can discover and celebrate new talent. Artist on the Rise will also have its own dedicated spot on the Music Explore page

We plan to continue to reflect the many ways trends emerge and are experienced by our global community. We're excited to keep making it easier for viewers to find the amazing creators and content they're passionate about!

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,679

YouTube Creators

🌟 New for eligible YPP Creators: We've added a new channel insights sharing setting in YouTube Studio! We’re excited to share that we're making it easier to be discovered by advertisers, brands, and third-party platforms using a new channel insights sharing setting in YouTube Studio.

By using this setting you can share your channel statistics, audience breakdown, and shopping performance (if you are in the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program) insights across Google tools where advertisers, brands, and third-party platforms are looking to partner with creators.

If you are interested in opting in to share your channel insights, you can enable it by following the steps listed in our Help Center here: yt.be/help/L5cvU

Learn more about this update here: yt.be/help/vUMSr

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 12,194