Peggy K's Creator News

As we roll into summer, your bored kids can find entertainment (and education) at Camp YouTube. Google Photos has a new logo, redesigned app, and a new interactive map. You can Duo or Meet group video call on smart screens with Google Assistant, and Meet announced a bevy of new features they are working on. And Microsoft’s live streaming platform Mixer is shutting down, with creators encouraged to move to Facebook Gaming. Plus more for business, security, live streaming and more. YouTube and Live Streaming As you may (or may not) know, I am a YouTube Contributor , which overlaps with the Google Product Expert Program. YouTube Contributors answer questions in the YouTube help community, create tutorials and otherwise help other users. You can meet some of the other YouTube Contributors from around the world in this nice video the Creator Insider channel. YouTube Brandcas t is an annual event aimed at advertisers. Most years there is an in-person event, featuring YouTube stars. This ye

In this week’s updates, you can use Duo for group video calls on the web, use Meet in the mobile Gmail app, share your passions in Keen, and get tips and updates for YouTubers, map makers and more. YouTube and Video YouTube will now age-restrict content promoting nicotine and THC, including smoking and vaping. If you post related content check out my overview of YouTube Community Guidelines relating to tobacco, marijuana, and related paraphernalia . YouTube has transformed influencer marketing platform FameBit - acquired in 2017 - into YouTube Brand Connect . The platform will act as a matchmaker between creators and brands, and make it easier to “create branded content that is both authentic and effective.” (basically ads). Eligible creators with at least 25,000 subscribers will be able to sign up for Brand Connect in Creator Studio. Plus there is a free course on creating branded conten t in YouTube Creator Academy. Note that all FameBit accounts will be closed July 31 , and nee

This week Google Photos told participants in its monthly photo print trial that it would not continue after June 30th. They are considering feedback from participants and it may "evolve" into  Back in February, Google Photos offered me the chance to participate in a free trial of a monthly photo print subscription . The idea was simple: Google Photos would choose 10 of your best photos uploaded during the previous month. You then had 3 days to edit the photos or swap them for different images.  Google Photos would then make 4x6 prints and mail them to you. The cost was set to $7.99 per month, but was free during the trial period. As there was no obligation to continue the subscription after the trial, I jumped at the chance.  I did enjoy receiving photos every month. It is fun to have prints, and to be able to share with family and friends. In general the print quality was good. The colors weren't as vibrant as they could be, but I think that is to be expected with matte,

YouTube will now age-restrict content promoting nicotine and THC. That includes smoking, vaping and other ways of delivering the active ingredients in tobacco and marijuana. There is an exception for educational, documentary, scientific or artistic content. Note that content policies apply to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams and everywhere else on YouTube. Policy: Harmful or dangerous content YouTube doesn’t allow content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death. This policy includes content showing drug use, which is generally prohibited on YouTube. In addition to content showing hard drug use, YouTube also prohibits: Minors using alcohol or drugs: Showing minors drinking alcohol, using vaporizers, e-cigarettes, tobacco or marijuana.  Selling hard or soft drugs: Featuring drugs with the goal of selling them.  Content that violates this policy may be removed and result in a Community Guid

As protests continue around the US, more companies are announcing new features, policies and fundraisers to promote Black voices and racial justice. And technology moves on, with the launch of Android 11 beta, new features in YouTube, AdSense, Google Meet, Docs and more. Android 11 beta was released . It has new messaging notifications, privacy features, built in screen recording, i mproved voice access and other features. For more information, check out the Android Central and Android Police overviews, and the Android Developers presentations on YouTube . If you have a Pixel 2, 3, 3a, or 4 you can install the beta today (at your own risk). Creator Updates This week I joined Michael Daniels and Heather Kraafter on Tinkering with Tech to talk about the new Blogger . Check it out if you are new to Blogger or are an old hand still using legacy Blogger. New Blogger will become the default by the end of June, so now is the time to try it. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki posted her mid-yea

On Wednesday, June 10 (today!), I'll be on Tinkering with Tech to talk about the new Blogger. The live stream begins at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern, 9pm UTC.  Click here to set a reminder  or watch (and live chat) on YouTube.  Learn more about the new Blogger interface Posts (and Pages ) Post Editor: now with the option to insert tables, plus a new image and video upload experience. Layout Theme Reading List Comments Stats Settings: now all on a single page More Announcement: A better Blogger experience on the web Blogger Update: mobile-friendly Post, Layout, and Theme pages Try out the new more mobile friendly Blogger!

This has been an eventful week in the US, with protests against police brutality and racial injustice in all 50 states. With that as a backdrop, there have been few product updates. Most tech companies have made  statements of support, and some, including Google, have pledged to make platform changes and donate money or resources in support of the Black community. And yes, Black lives matter. YouTube has updated the information provided to Partners for monetization self-certification , providing detailed examples of what types of content can and cannot show ads . Google Chat - the successor to chat in classic Hangouts - is expanding to more G Suite customers . By switching to “Chat Preferred”, Chat replaces Hangouts in Gmail, and the Hangouts app and extension stop working. Hangouts can still be used at hangouts.google.com . Chat and Hangouts are interoperable for 1:1 discussions, and the classic Hangouts bot provides Hangouts notifications inside Chat. Chat isn’t available for perso

Starting today, G Suite administrators can migrate their users from classic Hangouts to "Chat preferred" . Previously this option was only available to a small group of G Suite customers in the Chat Accelerated Transition Program. Google Chat ( chat.google.com ) features include:  Direct 1:1 messaging that is interoperable with classic Hangouts Direct group messaging  Rooms for "ongoing long-term chats" Edit text in a conversation after it was sent Google Drive file sharing, in addition to photo and video sharing Bots to help you (or have some fun) There is a handy Hangouts vs. Chat comparison page with more details. In August 2019 Google announced that the transition from classic Hangouts to Google Chat for all G Suite users would begin in "late 2020" , and that is the phase we are entering now.   This appears to be slightly ahead of schedule, as Phase 3 was originally in the "first half of 2020", and here we are still in the first half (eve