YouTube's Latest Updates: Jump Ahead Experiment & Advanced Features

Transcript

There are new YouTube updates, and currently, a so-called “Jump ahead” experiment is running for a very small group of YouTube Premium users in the US. When you double-tap on a smartphone, the video will fast-forward to where the AI assumes the user wants to skip. It will likely be based on the audience retention graph and be a very interesting feature from a user’s perspective. However, for Creators, it presents several challenges: Naturally, there will be less motivation to create eight-minute videos to place mid-roll ads. Ad reads could also be affected. If an ad is paid for by a company, the user might simply skip it, which also impacts the advertiser.

On one hand, ads will become cheaper as fewer people click on them, and the conversion rate decreases. On the other hand, there could be a paradigm shift away from ad reads towards more sponsor content. A great example is HandOfBlatt, who creates dedicated content with their Sparkassenberater video that blends advertising and content instead of just running simple ads. A very interesting experiment! I’ll keep you updated on how it turns out. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments on ad reads, both from a Creator and user perspective, and what alternatives there might be, such as lower thirds, logo rotations, livestream announcements, automatic chat messages for premieres, etc.

Moving on to the topic of segmenting audience retention graphs. Previously, you could click “View More” to display organic vs. paid views, which is especially interesting for advertisers. Now, this segmentation is being expanded: Subscribers and non-subscribers can be compared. This allows you to better tailor your videos to engage new viewers without neglecting existing ones. Additionally, there will be a distinction between new and returning viewers since not every non-subscriber is a new viewer. As soon as there’s more information on this, you’ll find it here on the channel.

Let’s switch to Shorts: The remix function has been improved and now allows you to link remixes together. Towards the end of last year, we got the cap tool, which let you create horizontal or vertical splitscreens. Now, you can add more splitscreens and continue the chain indefinitely. Please note: If the original is deleted, all remixes in this chain will also be deleted. Let me know in the comments if you use remixes, for example, to address viewer questions.

A small update regarding chapters at the end of the patch notes: We know that chapters have a secret metric that isn’t tied to intermediate or advanced features. It’s a bit unclear why they work, but…

Why YouTube Chapters Are Important

In our last video, we already covered the basics on this topic, and YouTube has finally announced that chapters will soon be part of the advanced features. This is planned for the second quarter of 2024, so April, May, or June, but it might take a bit longer. However, I’m convinced this is an important step forward. If you’re not using chapters yet, you absolutely should! It may not seem intuitive, but it helps reach new viewers, which should be in your interest.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. We also discussed AI labels in our last livestream, so if you missed it, feel free to check it out again.

I think that’s it for this week. Next week is Easter, so there probably won’t be a video. We’ll see each other again in the week after. Until then, take care and stay healthy!