Weekly Update - June 26, 2021: YouTube, Cookies, Twitter

Happy Summer! I hope you are staying cool.

This week there are tips for small businesses and new creators to get started on YouTube, updates for advertisers, new features for Google Meet and Chat, updated Contacts interface, plus monetization options on Twitter and new Live Audio Rooms on Facebook. Read on for all the details.

YouTube

• Any unlisted videos on your YouTube channel uploaded before 2017 will be made private unless you opt out. The deadline is July 23. The reason: YouTube started using more secure video URLs in 2017, so this is to make sure your unlisted videos are less likely to have a guessable link.
• On the Overview tab of YouTube Analytics you can now see a Stories report summary. Stories are generally available to channels with at least 10,000 subscribers.
• The latest YouTube Trends Report lets you dive into local trends around the world. The content is aimed primarily at advertisers, but even if you aren’t it’s interesting to see what was popular in Germany or Korea in the past year. And fun facts: 72% of people surveyed posted video content online in the last year and 85% watched a live stream!
• YouTube is testing timestamps in policy violation emails so creators can see an example of the policy their video violated.
• Rachel Alves, YouTube’s Product Manager for Recommendations, has tips for how to grow smaller channels. She suggests building your channel around an audience, finding your niche and watching similar creators, establish your brand, and being consistent.,
• For Small Business Week Google hosted a panel on the secrets of success on YouTube for small businesses. Panelists include “social media fitness entrepreneur” Cassey Ho of Blogilates, brand strategist Erin Winters “Erin on Demand”, and Tiana Coats of Winding Wick Candles.

Web Creators and Advertisers

• Google is delaying implementation of its Privacy Sandbox, meant to be a replacement for cookies with improved privacy. Chrome will not be phasing out third party cookies until mid- to late 2023 instead of 2022. Google is working on creating “more private approaches to key areas, including ad measurement, delivering relevant ads and content, and fraud detection, “ while making sure it does not run afoul of regulators worldwide.
• The new Ads Creative Studio brings together Google’s creative tools (for making ads), including audio, video and interactive content editing tools. This will be available to Display & Video 360 customers at the end of July and to select YouTube Ads customers in September.

Communication

• Google Meet is getting new safety and security features for education meetings started in Google Classroom. All co-teachers in a Classroom will be meeting hosts. Students joining the meeting will be placed in an individual “waiting room, and then when the teacher is present, will be automatically admitted to the meeting. Anyone who is not on the Classroom roster will have to ask to join. There will also be new safety features for breakout rooms, and hosts will be able to turn off everyone’s video at once.
• Search in Google Chat now has interactive filters to narrow down your search results. This is rolling out on Android devices, and should be available on iOS devices and the web by the end of July.
• The new improved Google Chat UI will soon be available to Google Workspace domains that do not use Gmail. The new UI is designed to make the interface more consistent, particularly between Chat in Gmail and Chat in the Progressive Web App.

Google Photos

PSA

Don't clear the Android device storage if you moved media to the Google Photos Locked Folder.

Moving there removes the media from the cloud & elsewhere. If you clear the app's data or reset the device, the only copy in the folder will be wiped.

See: https://t.co/04MDcSKwCC pic.twitter.com/rIAUL8wtmP

— Paolo Amoroso (@amoroso) June 24, 2021

Social Media

• Twitter has started accepting applications for ticketed Spaces and paid “Super Follows”. And Twitter will only take a 3% cut (after Google or Apple’s 30% cut) up to the creator's first $50,000 in earnings. Note that to be eligible for ticketed Spaces you need at least 1000 followers and to have hosted at least 3 Spaces in the past 30 days. For Super Follows you need 10,000 followers.
• Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms and podcasts in the United States. Live Audio Rooms are available to public figures and “select Facebook Groups”. The new podcasts player lets you listen while browsing Facebook.

Productivity

• The URLs of some Google Drive files, folders and shared drives will change September 13 to be more secure. People who have not viewed the files yet may need to request access. People who have viewed the file will be able to continue to view it. You should receive an email around July 26 with a list of impacted files.
• Google Contacts has a new design. It shows the person’s organization, interactions in Gmail and meetings from Google Calendar, and details from their Google profile. For Google Workspace organizations it will show a section with the person’s position in the management chain. With my personal account I still see a fair amount of details about my contacts. Time to update your Google Profile information!

More

• Google Search now shows a notice when there are “rapidly evolving” search results, such as information about breaking news stories. The notice suggests checking back again later when there are more results from reliable sources. This system is automated. It will first be available in English in the United States, and expand to more languages and locations later.
• The Mozilla Rally research platform lets you donate your data to studies meant to help build a better internet. What is unique is that the platform is designed to protect your privacy, even as you contribute information.

That’s all the updates for this week. Subscribe to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox or favorite feed reader every week. Miss last week’s update? Get it here.

Image: Daisies Image by Couleur from Pixabay