Weekly Update - June 1, 2019: YouTube Analytics, Project Strobe, Web Indexing

This week is all about … the future. There are changes coming to Analytics in YouTube Studio, Google Search indexing, AdSense ad unit settings, Chrome extensions and much more. Read on!

• We got a sneak peek at new features in development for Analytics in YouTube Studio. You will be able to see a selection of other videos your audience watched (not only from your channel), and there will be a new Important Notifications card on your Analytics dashboard. In mid-June there will be "YTA Day" where everyone will be directed to new YouTube Studio so that YouTube can get feedback. If you are a die-hard user of classic YouTube Analytics, check out this overview of advanced features in YouTube Studio Analytics from YouTube Creators
• YouTube channel Memberships will be integrated with Cameo, a platform for booking personal video shout-outs.
• The stand-alone YouTube Gaming mobile apps and desktop site have been shut down. You can now find gaming content on YouTube proper at www.youtube.com/gaming. Your YouTube Gaming subscriptions have been added to your YouTube subscriptions.
• Taylor Lorenz has an interesting article in The Atlantic about the difference between “Creators” and “Influencers”. In a nutshell: “influencers" is a newer, marketing-driven term. The word "creator" in its modern sense was pioneered by YouTube and has a rich, long gender-diverse history”
• YouTube livestreams now have a 12 hour DVR playback window, instead of 4 hours. The DVR allows playback of the stream while it's live and before the archive is created.
• If you live stream on Twitter, you can now allow guests to join you. Guest participation is audio only, so no camera is needed. To allow viewers to request to join your broadcast, tap the Faces button before you go live.
• Google Search announced they are enabling mobile-first indexing by default - using a smartphone Googlebot- for new domains starting July 1st. For existing domains, use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console to check for mobile-first indexing. As an added tip, Google recommends using a responsive web design and having a single URL for both desktop and mobile websites.
• AdSense notified Publishers of upcoming changes to ad units. Text-only and display-only ad units will be phased out, custom text-ad styles are being deprecated, and it won’t be possible to add a custom channel when you create a new ad unit, among other changes.
• The Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge is open for applications from news organizations in the US and Canada. The focus is supporting creative projects that generate revenue and/or increase audience engagement for local news. This is for "organizations of every size - digital natives, startups, NGOs, industry organizations, broadcasters, traditional news organizations, freelancers, and sole proprietors that aim to produce innovative, original journalism and to enlighten citizens with trustworthy journalistic content, and whose projects focus on encouraging a more sustainable news ecosystem."
• Project Strobe is Google’s deep review of developer and third party access to Google Account and Android Device information. One outcome of that project was the death of consumer Google+, but it has also resulted in changes to Gmail and Android apps to limit access to account details that apps and services really need. This week Google announced that there will be more user control over what Drive data can be accessed by third party apps. Changes won’t go into effect unto early next year.
• There will also be changes to Chrome browser extensions to enhance privacy and security. The good news is that Google is prohibiting deceptive Chrome extension installation tactics, and requiring extensions to limit requests to only the data required to implement the features. More extensions will also have to post privacy policies. The bad news is that Google is deprecating the part of the Chrome API that ad-blockers like uBlockOrigin and Ghostery use to block ads before they are downloaded. Developers will still be able to use a “less effective, rules-based system”, but it remains to be seen how well that will work. It should also be noted that there isn’t a timeline yet for when these changes will be implemented, so there could be changes.

June is LGBTQ Pride Month

• YouTube Original: State of Pride
• YouTube Sets Slate of Pride Month LGBTQ Documentaries Featuring Troye Sivan, Gigi Gorgeous
• Celebrate Pride Month with LGBTQIA+ creators on Twitch
• Pride 2019: Celebrate yourself with Pinterest

Read on for more updates and tips for webmasters, AdSense Publishers, YouTubers, Android users and more.

 
Image: Colored Pencils by Hebi B. from Pixabay

Upcoming

• June 4: Google Partners Academy on Air: 3 simple strategies to enhance your search ads
• June 7: Deadline for Change the Game design challenge for teens
• June 16: Deadline to apply for YouTube NextUp India (for creators with original songs)

YouTube and Video Creation

• Channel Memberships Integration with Cameo, Extended DVR Window, and Fixed Non-Skip Ad Bug! (Creator Insider)
• SNEAK PEEK! New YTA Features and YTA Day! (Creator Insider)
• Advanced New Features in YouTube Studio Analytics (YouTube Creators)
• The Real Difference Between Creators and Influencers (Taylor Lorenz @ The Atlantic)
• YouTube investigating right-wing pundit Steven Crowder for harassing Vox.com host (The Verge)
• YouTube cracks down on videos instructing viewers to ingest bleach as ‘Miracle’ medical cure (Tubefilter)

Go Live

• Twitter now lets you go live with guests! (Twitter)

Social Media: Twitter

• Twitter now lets you go live with guests! (Twitter)
• Twitter is removing the ability to DM stickers (Twitter)

Other Social Media

• Introducing the Pinterest Windows app (Pinterest)

Google Photos and Photo Sharing

• “This is How Google’s Phone Enhances Your Photos” (Nackblog)

Google for Businesses

• Google Maps adds popular dishes to restaurant listings(Google)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Mobile-First Indexing by default for new domains (Google Webmasters)
• Introducing Data Studio Community Visualizations as Chart Interaction Filters (Google)
• Announcing Webmaster Conference -- India! (Google India blog)
• Structured Data: SEO Mythbusting (Bonus Material) (Google Webmasters)
• Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (May 28) (Google Webmasters)
• Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (May 31) (Google Webmasters)

AdSense and Advertising

• Understanding AdSense policy: “Scraped content” (AdSense)
• Google Marketing Platform Partners now available globally (Google)
• Google to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users (9to5Google)

Made by Google, Android, Google Fi

• Building a safer Google Play for kids (Android Developers)
• Google’s Play Store starts requiring games with loot boxes to disclose their odds (The Verge)

Productivity

• Use Google Lens to translate in 100 languages (Google)
• New formatting tools available in Google Docs: insert and view section breaks, adjust margins per section (G Suite Updates)
• Gmail confidential mode launching for G Suite users; on by default on June 25, 2019 (G Suite Updates)

Privacy and Security

• Canva security breach - change your password (Canva)
• Flipboard users: Update your password (Lifehacker)
• Update on Project Strobe: New policies for Chrome and Drive (Google)
• Enhancing security controls for Google Drive third-party apps (Google Cloud)
• Taking Action on Deceptive Chrome Extension Installation Tactics (Chromium Blog)

More around the web

• North Face Apologizes for Adding Its Own Photos to Wikipedia to Promote Its Brand (New York Times)
• BlackBerry Messenger dies today, but it’ll never truly be gone (The Verge)
• Apple Is Finally Killing iTunes (Rolling Stone)
• A challenge to stimulate local news in North America (Google)