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Showing posts from October, 2018

Weekly Update - October 27, 2018: YouTube, Maps, Lens

Happy almost-Halloween everyone! There are some treats for creators this week. YouTube Premieres are now available to all Creators . Set a date and time for your uploaded video to “premiere” and a video watch page is created with comments and live chat both. Your fans can then watch the premiere of your video together while they chat.  YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki posted her final update for 2018 , with a plea to users that they "tell the world" how they will be impacted by Article 13 of the EU's new copyright legislation, and paints a dire picture about the possible outcome: it "could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies." She also gave an overview new features implemented over the past year, and announced the new "YouTube Learning" initiative to support high quality educational content.  You can now follow businesses in Google Maps to see events, offers and other updates. Makes a lot of s

How to turn your Google+ (or other) Followers into YouTube Subscribers

With the announcement that the consumer version of Google+ will be shut down in April 2019, some active Plussers want to be sure their Followers find them in their new home. I've seen a few questions whether there is likely to be a way to automatically convert their Followers into YouTube Subscribers. While I'd love to have an additional million subs, I think it's quite unlikely that will ever be an option. In my case, I gained a large percentage of my Google+ Followers when I was on the old Suggested User List shown to users when they created a Profile. I would bet that many of the followers I gained that way haven't used Google+ in years, if they ever did at all. And the folks who follow you on Google+ may not specifically be interested in your videos. So what can you do?  Ask your Google+ Followers to subscribe to your YouTube channel!  RELATED:  How the Google+ shutdown will - and will not - affect your YouTube channel

Weekly Update - October 20, 2018: YouTube Player, Adobe MAX, Android

While Plussers are looking for a new home, life - and app updates - go on. There are improvements to video watching, live streaming and much more. The YouTube embedded video player - the one you use on websites other than YouTube - got a redesign. It now displays the channel’s avatar, and there is no longer a way to hide the title or prevent related videos from appearing at the end. You can, however, limit the related videos to those from the same channel. And now you don’t need to stop watching videos while you are surfing on desktop. On YouTube, just click the mini-player icon on the bottom right of any video to continue watching as you browse the site. And if you use Chrome, picture-in-picture is now the default on Linux, Mac and Windows (and soon Chrome OS), so you can watch videos in a floating window whatever you are doing on your computer. There is evidence Facebook was aware that it was providing inaccurate video viewership metrics for over a year . Thos metrics not on

Limit related videos on embedded videos to those from the same channel

If you embed videos on your website or blog, and get the embed code from the video watch page, you may have noticed that YouTube no longer lets you choose to disable related videos from displaying at the end of the video. YouTube has updated the embedded video player so you can't completely turn off related videos and you can't disable the video title or channel avatar from displaying. You can, however, limit the related videos that display to videos on the same channel. This change was announced in the YouTube Developer documentation in August , but it was pretty much unnoticed until its implementation now. The good news is that you can use the "rel" parameter to limit the related videos shown to those on the same channel as the embedded video. So if you watch one of my videos embedded on my site, I can set it so that the related videos you are shown are all mine too. How to use the "rel" parameter to limit related videos to videos on the same

Weekly Update - October 13, 2018: Google+ Shutdown, Pixel 3, Google Photos

This was a sad week for us avid Plussers, as Google announced the consumer version of Google+ will be shut down next year. There was good news too with new Google hardware with integrated AI and Assistant, new Photos features and shiny new look and name for the Google Product Experts program. This week’s update is a bit of a monster, so I've divided it into sections. The shutdown of Google+ I am still working on a detailed write-up up my thoughts on the demise of Google+, but here’s an overview of what’s happening: on Monday, Google announced they had discovered (and fixed) a bug that may have revealed some user Google+ profile information to developers. Oh, and because of low usage and the “ significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ product that meets consumers’ expectations ” the consumer version of Google+ will shut down by August 2019. The official Google+ Page didn’t make even a minimal announcement until the next day . There have been no d

What to do if your YouTube Partner Program application was rejected for Duplication or Reused Content

YouTube has clarified that the YouTube Partner Program requires channels to have original and relevant content. Even you upload public domain movies or "fair use" video compilations, you need to "add value" to monetize that content. YouTube started a review process for YouTube Partner Program applications in 2017. Formerly there wasn't a review of a channel's content before monetization was enabled, and acceptance was usually fast and automatic. With the new reviews, a number of channels have had their application rejected  - or their monetization disabled - for the ambiguously-named " Duplication ", " Repetitive Content" or  "Reused Content" . Information provided to rejected Partner Program applicants on their Monetization Settings tab  focused on copyright issues, which didn't always seem to apply to the creator's channel. And while it is possible to reapply after 30 days, YouTube didn't provide any gu

Weekly Update - October 6, 2018: Podcasting, Gaming, Live Streaming

Monday is a holiday across most of the US (Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Discoverer’s Day) and Canada (Thanksgiving). If you have the day off, I hope you have fair weather, and family and good friends to celebrate with. And be sure to check out this week's great opportunities for creators, and tips and updates for webmasters, business owners, YouTubers and more. Google’s Project Stream is looking for gamers to help to improve streaming in Chrome on desktop. They recruiting participants in the US to play the soon-to-be-released Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. If you’re selected, you’ll have free access to the game until mid-January. Apply now ! If you are looking for something a bit different from a .com domain for your website, you can now register a .page domain through Google at get.page The Google Podcasts Creator Program is now open for applications and looking for new voices. They are looking for applicants from a “range of geographies, backgrounds, views, voices