Peggy K's Creator News

To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing  tech highlights from 2015  that still resonate a decade later.   Ten years ago, Google open-sourced their Santa Tracker and built a new Santa's Village. Watch the Short version. Tracking Santa Santa Tracker and Santa's Village in December 2015 Google launched their first Santa Tracker in 2004 , shortly after acquiring a company called Keyhole, which would become Google Earth. In 2007 they officially partnered with NORAD , which had been tracking Santa since the 1950s.   In 2012, NORAD switched to using Bing Maps . Google continued on their own, using a "new route algorithm " and a site where you could visit Santa's Village to play mini-games and get into the holiday spirit. Open Source Santa In 2015 Google made their Santa Tracker open source , including both the Android and Polymer-based mobile-optimized web versions.  Probably not coincidentally,  Polymer 1.0  (an open-source JavaScri...

Dear readers, this is the last of the significant updates for 2025. I’m expecting most platforms to (hopefully) go on holiday until 2026. That means this week there are a ton of smaller updates for YouTube, Instagram and more. There won’t be a newsletter or live stream on the 27th. Stay tuned for my own recap of the year on January 3rd. I hope you have a fantastic holiday! 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. Top news and updates this week There seems to be a finalized contract for TikTok in the US to be taken over by a group of US investors in January. YouTube has new settings for video language preferences. Easily create clips from YouTube Podcasts with AI-powered Suggested Clips. “Edit with AI” to create a video in the YouTube Shorts editor. YouTube Create video editing app is available for iOS in 19 more countries. YouTube is expanding access to Channel Guidelines for comments on videos and in Communities. YouTube Studio mobile app will show comment summaries for ...

To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing  tech highlights from 2015  that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the  week ending December 19, 2015. Ten years ago this week, Google released their annual Year in Search video, with the theme "the questions we asked revealed who we are", with a focus on inclusion, diversity and community.  This year the Year in Search focused mainly on pop culture and "reimagining your life".  It shouldn't be a surprise that what is essentially a glossy ad for Google Search highlights the positive and reflects changing times. Watch the Short version. People Searching for Ways to Help The opening scene of Google's Year on Search in 2015 shows the question "how can i help the refugees". Google's Year in Search video for 2015 opens with the statement “In 2015 the questions we asked revealed who we are”. The opening scene shows a crowded boat on the open water, and the search q...

This week there are a ton of updates, as the big tech companies near the end-of-year code freeze. If something will be launched this year, now is the time! For video creators there are updates for YouTube, Twitch, Instagram and Edits, Facebook, and TikTok. For website owners there are several updates to Google Search Console, improved links in Search, updates to AdSense and more. 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. Top news and updates this week Adjust your Algorithm for Instagram Reels. Facebook updated Profiles, Feed, Search, comments and navigation to improve discovery related to your interests. TikTok adds Shared Collections and Shared Feed linked to your DMs. Google Search is expanding the Preferred Sources option globally. They are also making other changes (including to AI Mode) meant to encourage users to visit websites. Google Search Console is testing social channel data from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and so forth in Search Console Insights. Google Photos has...

To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing  tech highlights from 2015  that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the  week ending December 12, 2015. Ten years ago this week YouTube added a trending tab, to highlight buzzworthy videos. It was removed this past summer, having outlived its usefulness. Watch the Short version. Finding Videos That Are Generating Discussion The YouTube Trending Tab, 11 December 2015. Movie trailers dominated. In December 2015, YouTube premiered their annual "Rewind video", recapping the top videos of the past year, and announced the brand new Trending tab .  YouTube suggested that this would be the way to keep up with the hot videos, "on and off YouTube". ... the Trending tab offers a way to see the videos people are watching, discussing, and sharing each and every day via a feed in your YouTube desktop and mobile app. From the most-anticipated new trailers to the hottest musi...

The end of 2025 is drawing close, which means it’s time to look back at your year. YouTube launched its first viewer recap (and it’s pretty cute), and you can get recaps of your Photos, activity on Twitch and more. The other big news this week is that Australian under-16s are being removed from major social platforms under a new law. Plus there are updates for YouTube, TikTok, Substack, Search Console and more. 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. Top news and updates this week Get your 2025 recap from YouTube , Google Photos , Twitch , Discord , Spotify  and more. Australia's Social Media Minimum Age Act, banning under-16s from Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , Twitch , Reddit , X , Snapchat , and Kick , goes into effect December 10th. YouTube says they will restore teens’ channels when they turn 16. YouTube is launching video title A/B testing. YouTube lets you limit comments to subscribers and paid members. YouTube videos are getting Expressive Captions (in Englis...