YouTube Updates: Multilingual Audio, Community Overhaul in Studio Mobile & Brand Video Links

Transcript

Multilingual audio or autodubbing is entering its final stages. At the beginning of the month, early November, we already had a 1% rollout. Within the next two weeks, we’re expecting a 10% rollout, and by the end of the year, it should be 100%, according to the current timeline. Supported languages will include French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish—those are confirmed. Additionally, Hindi, Indonesian, and Japanese are set to be added. I think this is a great development, and I’m curious to see how it’s implemented. Of course, it’s going to be a disastrous launch, we already know that. YouTube already has issues remembering your subtitle settings.

You know that YouTube considers your browser language, in-app language, the language you’ve selected in the app, and your watch history—whether you consume content in German or English and whether you’ve changed subtitles or language settings in the past. Based on these factors, YouTube decides which language to use instead of letting the user choose the language they want to hear. Unfortunately, it’s too complex and complicated to burden the user with a decision that could be solved by AI.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this: first, that it’s almost here, and second, that it’s likely to be a disaster when it comes to selecting the right language. It’s going to be fantastic! But let’s move on. On the horizon, way off in the distance, we see a big V for speculation, or VW with reservations, because there’s a rumor going around. Please don’t read too much into this: The distribution of gifted memberships is said to be changing. So far, subscribers have been prioritized, and that will continue to be the case. However, some new criteria are being added.

The new distribution is rumored to be as follows: First, people who have just subscribed and are watching the stream will be prioritized. Then, non-subscribers watching the stream will be next, followed by subscribers who aren’t watching the stream. This order apparently made a lot of sense. Of course, it doesn’t make much sense because you want to reward the people who are live right now. It’s rumored for Q4 2024, so in the next month and a half. I haven’t heard anything else about it, so I don’t expect it this year, maybe Q1 2025, the first quarter of next year. I’ll keep you updated because this will be a very interesting change.

Now, let’s switch to YouTube Studio, where we now have Data Stories. We’ve had them before, Martin? Yes, that’s true, but not as a simple breakdown of a video’s performance in the first 24 hours. Principally, I think it’s a good thing. I generally like Data Stories when data is presented in a meaningful way instead of just seeing graphs. Bringing this to the video level instead of creating weekly or monthly summaries is also beneficial, in my opinion.

Let’s stay in the Studio, both mobile and desktop, as the Community section is being rolled out. We’ve touched on this briefly; unfortunately, KB Media hasn’t gained access to the Community section yet. However, I already have access on my gaming channel, so you’ll see some screenshots of it now. While the Community section is visible on mobile and shows information about comments and regular viewers from the last 28 days, this information is missing in desktop mode. Interestingly, not only comments are important here but also likes and shared content.

This text mentions “including top comments,” but it’s about the most engaged users. Others are included as well, for example, those who may have written only one or two comments per year but always watch, like, and share. These users will also be featured in the Community Spotlight.

Community Spotlight and Creator-Initiated Brand Video Links

People you regularly see in chats and streams, actively commenting, are of course part of the Community Spotlight as well. It’s an interesting feature. Be sure to check out the mobile YouTube Studio because the desktop version doesn’t have this function yet. Share your thoughts with me! Do you generally think it’s cool to have a Community Spotlight? Would you like to know why the people in the Community Spotlight were chosen? If there’s a high comment count, they are top commentators, but I’d also like to know if users who give a lot of likes can be marked separately. Let’s discuss this!

Then we still need to talk about the elephant in the room this week: so-called Creator Initiated Brand Video Links. This feature allows you to tag a brand in a video with paid promotion (product placement) and provide your organic metrics. Originally, it was planned that Creators would be paid for this, but that’s not the case! Please don’t click anything, don’t send out invitations before you’ve spoken to the brand. By linking, you automatically give up your usage rights to the video to the advertiser.

This should be contractually agreed upon beforehand. If you want to collaborate with someone, negotiate a contract first and make sure that at least a deposit is made before you release data or the video is used for advertising. The help article clarifies that linking does not give you access to the advertiser’s Google Ads account and vice versa. Only analytics data is shared and permission is granted to use the video for advertising.

This could lead to a change in negotiations between Creators and companies. Also important: Linking is not exclusive. If you make a comparison video with multiple products, you can send separate linking requests to the respective brands. There is no obligation to be exclusive.

Do you have any further questions? Feel free to write them in the comments! And finally, a quick reminder: if you file an appeal for “reused content,”…

Reused Content and Video Appeals

Please remember that video appeals must be submitted in English. In the last two months, I had two cases where Creators who created their own content were mistakenly identified as copyright infringers, submitted their appeals in German, and they were automatically rejected. This is a bit annoying, but we can still forward it to YouTube if an English version of the video is available. However, it’s in your best interest to write the appeal directly in English.

Ideally, this shouldn’t happen, but now you’ve heard this information from me as well. I will probably make an extra video about it to address it again. Thank you in any case for watching! If you have questions, feel free to comment. See you next week for more updates - take care and keep going!