Free Channel Memberships for YouTube Premium Users: The Big Experiment in April 2024!

New Updates for YouTube Live, Shorts, and Gaming Integration

YouTube is currently implementing a series of updates across its mobile and desktop platforms, with a heavy emphasis on enhancing user engagement, refining monetization tools, and deepening the integration between video content and gaming. From new interaction features in live streams to experimental membership perks for Premium users, these changes signal a shift toward more interactive, mobile-first experiences.

Enhancing Mobile Live Stream Engagement

YouTube is prioritizing the mobile experience for its live streaming features, specifically focusing on vertical live streams. One of the most anticipated additions is a new tagging system for co-chatters.

Improved Tagging in Vertical Streams

The team is developing a feature that allows users to tag other participants in the chat with just a few keystrokes. Once implemented, these tags will be highlighted in a different color for the recipient, mirroring the functionality already available on the desktop version. This visual distinction ensures that tagged users are immediately aware of the mention, fostering better real-time communication between creators and their community.

While this feature is being rolled out for vertical streams first, YouTube intends to bring these improvements to horizontal live chats as well. However, a specific release date for the horizontal rollout has not yet been established; the focus remains on ensuring the vertical version is stable before expanding.

Shorts: Desktop Fixes and Mobile-First Thumbnails

For creators utilizing YouTube Shorts, there are several updates regarding how content is displayed and managed across different devices.

View Count Bug Fix

A persistent bug affecting the desktop feed—where views for Shorts were not being displayed correctly—has been resolved. This ensures that creators and viewers have an accurate representation of a Short’s performance when browsing via a computer.

The Mobile-Only Thumbnail Workflow

Despite requests from the community, it appears that Shorts thumbnails will not be returning to the desktop version in the near future. YouTube is doubling down on a smartphone-centric approach for Shorts management.

To customize thumbnails for Shorts, creators must use a mobile device (either Android or iOS). To assist with this, YouTube is introducing a built-in text editor for Shorts thumbnails on mobile. This tool allows creators to overlay text directly onto the frame, providing a way to create more clickable and descriptive covers without needing external editing software. The rollout for this text editor is scheduled between late February and late March 2024.

Membership Gifting and Premium Experiments

YouTube is testing several ways to increase membership adoption through gifting and bundled perks, though some limitations remain regarding account types and timelines.

Member Gifting Constraints

The “Member Gifting with 2x Free Memberships” feature currently has strict eligibility requirements. It is only available for main accounts within the YouTube Partner Program (YPP); brand accounts are not currently supported. While this feature was prioritized for the current quarter, there is no activity expected in March, leaving its status for the next quarter uncertain.

Furthermore, “Targeted Member Gifting” has been confirmed as unavailable for Q2 2024.

Free Memberships for Premium Users

A new experiment is set to launch in April that grants YouTube Premium users a free channel membership. While this concept has appeared previously, it is now moving forward again.

There is a significant caveat, however: rumors suggest that this may be a one-time perk granted upon upgrading to Premium, rather than a recurring monthly benefit. For creators and users who prefer a monthly rotation of memberships to support different channels, providing feedback during this experimental phase will be critical to signaling the demand for a recurring model over a one-time bonus.

Super Chat Evolution: Likes and Threads

Transaction revenue through Super Chats is receiving a significant upgrade to make paid messages more interactive and organized.

Super Chat Likes

Starting around March 20th, YouTube will introduce “likes” for Super Chats across both mobile and desktop platforms. This allows the community to acknowledge and elevate high-quality or particularly supportive messages, adding another layer of social validation to the monetization process.

Replies and Threads

Following the likes update, a more substantial change is expected at the end of April: the introduction of Super Chat replies and threads. While the exact UI remains unknown, this feature will likely allow creators and viewers to respond directly to specific Super Chats, creating organized conversation threads.

This could be particularly transformative for educational or technical channels—such as those focusing on DIY projects, motorcycle maintenance, or tutorials—where a paid question can trigger a detailed, threaded discussion that provides value to the rest of the audience.

The Integration of Gaming and “Playables”

YouTube is making an aggressive push into the gaming space, leveraging former Google infrastructure to create a more seamless bridge between watching a game and playing it.

The Return of YouTube Playables

In approximately 1.5 months, YouTube Playables will return, initially launching in the US and select English-speaking countries. This feature allows YouTube Premium subscribers to play small, integrated games for free directly within the platform.

This move is supported by a shift in talent; several developers from Google’s defunct Stadia platform have moved to the YouTube team. They are specifically working on expanding “Crowdplay,” a feature that originally allowed Stadia users to join another user’s stream. The long-term goal is to integrate a button directly into streams by the end of 2024, allowing viewers to purchase and download games instantly.

Third-Party Platform Connectivity

To facilitate this ecosystem, YouTube is enabling connections with third-party gaming platforms such as Epic Games and Battlenet. While some details remain speculative, the technical interface between these accounts already exists.

The vision for this integration includes:

• Direct Purchases: The ability to click a button in a stream, buy a game via Battlenet or Epic Games, and immediately join the streamer’s session.
• Affiliate Revenue: The potential introduction of affiliate keys. This mirrors the “Creator Code” system used by Epic Games, where creators receive a revenue share when their audience purchases games using their specific code.

For gaming creators, this represents a significant opportunity to diversify income streams beyond traditional ad revenue and memberships by leveraging direct game affiliations.

Original transcript

Transcript

I’m on vacation and this computer is dying, so please excuse the noises the fan is making. So let’s get right to the mobile news. They’re getting new priorities. The team is working on vertical live streams, which means it will be rolled out there first, allowing you to press a button, enter a few letters, and then select who among the co-chatters should be tagged. These tags will of course be highlighted for the recipient just like on desktop, meaning they’ll be displayed in a different color so you know you’ve been tagged. That’s a really good thing! The whole thing is still being built for horizontal live chats once vertical live streams are ready and can be rolled out in a stable version. There’s no specific date for that yet, though.

Let’s move on to desktop and the Shorts in the feed. There was a bug there where views weren’t displayed correctly. That’s been fixed now, so another issue checked off the list. Staying on the topic of Shorts and desktop: Shorts thumbnails and the desktop version likely won’t be making a comeback anytime soon. Don’t get your hopes up too much there. YouTube is fully focusing on smartphones. So if you want thumbnails for your Shorts, you’ll need to upload them from a mobile device, either Android or iOS. There will be a text editor for Shorts thumbnails that works on mobile as well. That’s scheduled for late February to late March. We’re in the launch period, so keep an eye out.

Text editor means you can simply take some text and place it over the frame. Moving on to Member Gifting with 2x F-Free Memberships. It still only works for accounts that are actually main accounts, not brand accounts, in the YouTube Partner Program. It should be prioritized for this quarter, but there’s definitely nothing happening in March, so there’s a big question mark for the next quarter. We’ll keep watching and I’ll keep you updated.

Staying on memberships: Targeted Member Gifting will definitely not be available in Q2 2024. However, another experiment is set to launch next month, where premium users get a free membership. We’ve seen this before and wondered what happened to it. It seems it’s moving forward, but beware: There’s a rumor that you won’t have a free membership available every month, only once when upgrading to Premium. I actually think that’s a bit of a shame if it turns out to be true. During this experimental phase, feedback should definitely be given that monthly would be preferred, so YouTube gets a strong signal.

Let’s continue and stay with transaction revenue: Moving on to Super Chats. There will be likes for Super Chats, a pretty interesting story for both mobile and desktop. The full launch is scheduled for around March 20th, about two weeks from now. Additionally, there should be a Super Chat update at the end of April that introduces Super Chat replies and threads. We don’t yet know what that will look like, but I can imagine it being very interesting. It could also be used to draw attention to a topic and then discuss it - I could see a Super Chat being a really exciting feature, especially for channels focused on tutorials or explainer videos. Motorcycle channels or DIY channels come to mind there.

A US-only or US-first launch with a few English-speaking countries: In about 1.5 months, YouTube Playables are set to return. That means if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber, you’ll be able to play small games on YouTube for free. Whether that’s necessarily useful remains to be seen. But it also confirms a rumor: Some Stadia developers - Stadia was Google’s gaming platform - have now moved to YouTube and are continuing work on their Crowdplay feature. Crowdplay was originally a way for Stadia users to join another Stadia user’s stream. That interface is set to be expanded, and there’s work being done to include a button in streams by the end of 2024 that lets you buy and download games.

Current Updates on YouTube and Gaming

It’s important to connect a suitable third-party platform with YouTube. Currently, there are options like Epic Games and Battlenet, for example. In my opinion, these are all just rumors, but this interface between the two accounts already exists. This means that you can ultimately click a button, buy the game through Battlenet or Epic Games, download it, and join the streamer. In this vision, there is also talk of affiliate keys. When we look at the ecosystem in the YouTube and YouTube Live space, we know that Epic Games offers so-called Creator Codes, which are exactly that: a revenue share, a kind of affiliation when selling keys. That’s why Epic Games is actually the strongest partner you can imagine here. Definitely an interesting story that gaming creators should keep an eye on.

That’s it for today. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Otherwise, subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss any updates. We’ll see you again next week from the regular studio with a working computer. Until then, take care and keep going!

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