Creator Weekly: YouTube Trending Tab Removed, Inauthentic Content Policy Update, Bluesky Profile Notifications
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Top news and updates this week
- YouTube is killing the Trending tab, but still has music, podcast and movie trailer charts.
- YouTube made a minor monetization policy update for inauthentic content. Yes, you can monetize content made with AI tools.
- TikTok may or may not be creating a US-only app and there may or may not be a deal for it to be sold to US owners.
- TikTok Sans font is now available to everyone for free.
- YouTube channels in the YouTube Partner Program can share channel and audience insights with brands and advertisers.
- There are now 10-year YouTube Membership loyalty badges.
- Edits by Instagram now has Voice Enhancement, sharing to other apps, more Insights and an improved Imagine tab.
- Google’s Veo 3 text-to-video model can now generate speech for photos-to-video generation in Flow and it’s available in Gemini (to AI subscribers).
- Google Vids can now balance sound levels across clips.
- Get notified of new activity from specific Bluesky accounts (ring the bell!). Plus more notification controls.
- Instagram is allowing search engine indexing of public posts from professional accounts.
- Meta’s Threads turned two and is growing.
- Mastodon has new profile features and is getting ready for quote posts.
- xAI’s Grok started spewing hate speech and apparently checks Musk’s posts when answering some questions. Plus CEO Linda Yaccarino
- Google Drive has a new, better organized, Home screen.
- Gmail added a Manage Subscriptions tab.
- Plus updates from StreamYard, Google Meet and Chat, an oral history of Google Earth, top creators, the journalists’ pivot to newsletters and more.
To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing
highlights from 2015.
In 2015 Facebook added a number of useful video features, and
started offering ad revenue sharing for some professionally produced videos. And
the numbers looked very good. People loved watching video!
Many media companies decided to “pivot to video”, laying off journalists and writers, and hiring video producers. That new content was posted to Facebook and other social platforms.
They learned the hard way that it’s a bad idea to be entirely dependent on 3rd party sites. Facebook had significantly inflated the video view metrics, so people weren’t actually watching.
Get all the details.
Join me live or watch the recording.
What do you know about YouTube live chat leaderboards? Take this week’s quiz.
Many media companies decided to “pivot to video”, laying off journalists and writers, and hiring video producers. That new content was posted to Facebook and other social platforms.
They learned the hard way that it’s a bad idea to be entirely dependent on 3rd party sites. Facebook had significantly inflated the video view metrics, so people weren’t actually watching.
Get all the details.
🔴 Creator Weekly Live: Sunday, 10:30AM Pacific time (6:30PM UTC).
Join me live or watch the recording.
✅ Take this week’s quiz
What do you know about YouTube live chat leaderboards? Take this week’s quiz.
To Do & Try
TikTok has open-sourced TikTok Sans, the default font for TikTok videos. TikTok says it’s “1000% free”. It’s available in more than 400 languages, and you can download the font through Google Fonts. (I appreciate that the sample text is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). TikTok Sans is not currently available through the “Add more fonts” option in Google Docs, Slides, Vids or Blogger..YouTube Kills the Trending Page
In December 2015 YouTube launched the Trending tab for the “hottest” creator videos, trailers and music videos. Now they are removing it.
Why? It’s the usual reason: people aren’t using it.
There are other places to find the most popular content:
Even though I haven’t actually looked at Trending in a very long time, I feel kind of sad about it. It feels like a vibe shift to more “professional” content and away from individual creators.
YouTube is updating our guidelines to better identify mass-produced and repetitious content. This update better reflects what “inauthentic” content looks like today.
There has been a lot of wild speculation about this change, including that it would ban monetization of all AI-generated content and reaction content.
This week YouTube finally posted more details.
YouTube notes that monetization policy applies no matter how the content is made.
AI-generated content is not automatically considered inauthentic content for monetization.
We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetize. All channels must follow our monetization policies and creators are required to disclose when their realistic content is altered or synthetic.
This week Reuters had a scoop that TikTok is working on a US-only app with its own algorithm. That would be a huge change, with the possibility that US creators could lose their audience. TikTok’s response was short and to the point: “The recently posted Reuters story, which is based on anonymous uninformed sources, is factually inaccurate.” Of course, that doesn’t say which parts of the report aren’t correct. I guess we’ll know what the deal is when something is actually launched.
The reason why TikTok needs a US owner is that its current Chinese ownership is supposed to be a national security risk. And China has a say in any transfer to US ownership. While President Trump recently claimed he “pretty much” has a deal in place, CNN points out that the only comment from Beijing this week was that “China has reiterated its principle and position on issues related to TikTok on multiple occasions”. And what they have indicated before is that they won’t agree to a forced sale. That doesn’t sound like a confirmed deal. China can walk away and the fallout will mostly hit US politicians whose constituents don’t want to lose access to the platform.
YouTube is cracking down on creators who violate product tagging policy for YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program. After warnings, access to the shopping affiliate program may be revoked. Creators can filter their content in YouTube Studio to find videos with products that have a tagging violation. More information from Creator Insider.
YouTube Channel Membership loyalty badges now include a 10-year badge.
Streamlabs Sponsorships now offers US Twitch streamers brand deals through Streamlabs Desktop. Streamlabs does not take a cut and many campaigns offer guaranteed base pay. It’s open to all creators of any size.
The Edits video editing app has new features: Voice Enhancement (reduce noise, enhance voice), easily share to Instagram, Facebook and other platforms, and there are more stats about your Instagram Reels including accounts reached, net new followers and sorting your Reels by likes, comments or saves. And to get creative, they’ve also improved the Imagine tab.
StreamYard has improved the quality of videos shared while live streaming.
If you are using the Google Flow movie making platform, you can now use Veo 3 to generate speech for your Frames to Video clips.
Google Gemini now has photos-to-video generation with Veo 3 for Gemini AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Google Vids can now “balance sound”, leveling the volume of all audio and video clips. There is also auto-ducking for background music, dipping the volume when other audio starts playing.
On July 10, Instagram started allowing Google and other search engines to index public posts from over-18 professional accounts. It will include content going back to 2020. I’m not entirely clear on what’s new, because Google already indexes at least some Instagram public posts, including some of mine from my non-professional account. But maybe this means more?
Meta’s Threads is now two, with 350 million monthly active users and growing. That’s getting close to X’s user numbers.
The latest version of Mastodon has a number of improvements, including an updated profile where you can feature hashtags or other profiles. It also has a widget that shows if someone you follow is following that profile. It’s also easier to manage list, has an improved audio player, better zooming on images, and a reminder (that you can disable) to add alt text to images. It also takes the first step towards supporting quote posts - you can see quote posts from other platforms, but you can’t create a quote post (yet).
I don’t even know where to begin with this. This week Grok, the AI built into X, was tweaked to "not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated". And so of course it started celebrating Adolf Hitler and spewing racist, anti-Jewish, and other hateful comments. It’s supposedly being fixed. Meanwhile, it was also discovered that Grok specifically searches Elon Musk’s tweets for information if you ask about a controversial topic. All AI bots are biased in some way, but this is just especially bad.
Also, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has stepped down. She thanked Musk for the opportunity, but didn’t give a reason for leaving. (The reason probably would have been something vague like “I want to spend more time with my family” anyway.)
There are other places to find the most popular content:
- YouTube Charts ranks music videos, top podcast shows, and movie trailers.
- Gaming Explore page has trending gaming videos
- Creators on the Rise will get a shout-out on YouTube’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
- The Inspiration tab in YouTube Studio highlights popular videos related to your content
Even though I haven’t actually looked at Trending in a very long time, I feel kind of sad about it. It feels like a vibe shift to more “professional” content and away from individual creators.
YouTube Monetization Policy Update for Inauthentic Content
As I noted last week, YouTube announced that on July 15th there would be a minor update to the monetization policy that bans repetitious content:YouTube is updating our guidelines to better identify mass-produced and repetitious content. This update better reflects what “inauthentic” content looks like today.
There has been a lot of wild speculation about this change, including that it would ban monetization of all AI-generated content and reaction content.
This week YouTube finally posted more details.
- The monetization policy for “repetitious content” has been renamed “inauthentic content”.
- They clarified that the existing policy includes content that is mass-produced or repetitive.
- There is no change to "reused content" policy
YouTube notes that monetization policy applies no matter how the content is made.
AI-generated content is not automatically considered inauthentic content for monetization.
We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetize. All channels must follow our monetization policies and creators are required to disclose when their realistic content is altered or synthetic.
What’s happening with TikTok?
Will there be a separate US version of TikTok? TikTok was supposed to be transferred to US ownership or banned from the US starting January 20th. That law has not been enforced, by multiple executive orders, since then.This week Reuters had a scoop that TikTok is working on a US-only app with its own algorithm. That would be a huge change, with the possibility that US creators could lose their audience. TikTok’s response was short and to the point: “The recently posted Reuters story, which is based on anonymous uninformed sources, is factually inaccurate.” Of course, that doesn’t say which parts of the report aren’t correct. I guess we’ll know what the deal is when something is actually launched.
The reason why TikTok needs a US owner is that its current Chinese ownership is supposed to be a national security risk. And China has a say in any transfer to US ownership. While President Trump recently claimed he “pretty much” has a deal in place, CNN points out that the only comment from Beijing this week was that “China has reiterated its principle and position on issues related to TikTok on multiple occasions”. And what they have indicated before is that they won’t agree to a forced sale. That doesn’t sound like a confirmed deal. China can walk away and the fallout will mostly hit US politicians whose constituents don’t want to lose access to the platform.
Video Creator and Live Streaming Updates
YouTube has a new option for channels in the YouTube Partner Program to share Insights with brands, advertisers and third party platforms. You can share aggregated data about your channel’s audience, views, likes and comments.This could help creators find more sponsorships. Manage this in YouTube Studio Settings > Channel > Advanced. This goes along with the new Creator Partnership Hub, where creators can connect with brands (it’s recommended to turn on Insights Sharing for the most opportunities). More information from Creator Insider.YouTube is cracking down on creators who violate product tagging policy for YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program. After warnings, access to the shopping affiliate program may be revoked. Creators can filter their content in YouTube Studio to find videos with products that have a tagging violation. More information from Creator Insider.
YouTube Channel Membership loyalty badges now include a 10-year badge.
Streamlabs Sponsorships now offers US Twitch streamers brand deals through Streamlabs Desktop. Streamlabs does not take a cut and many campaigns offer guaranteed base pay. It’s open to all creators of any size.
The Edits video editing app has new features: Voice Enhancement (reduce noise, enhance voice), easily share to Instagram, Facebook and other platforms, and there are more stats about your Instagram Reels including accounts reached, net new followers and sorting your Reels by likes, comments or saves. And to get creative, they’ve also improved the Imagine tab.
StreamYard has improved the quality of videos shared while live streaming.
If you are using the Google Flow movie making platform, you can now use Veo 3 to generate speech for your Frames to Video clips.
Google Gemini now has photos-to-video generation with Veo 3 for Gemini AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Google Vids can now “balance sound”, leveling the volume of all audio and video clips. There is also auto-ducking for background music, dipping the volume when other audio starts playing.
Web Publishers and Search
Google Sites now lets you search for files embedded in the Site, including PDFs, and Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.Social Media
Bluesky added new notification options. You can opt-in to receive notifications of new posts from specific accounts (I’ve been wanting this!), get notifications when someone likes or reports posts you’ve reposted (say that 10 times fast) and has added more controls to customize the notifications you receive for replies, mentions, quotes, likes, reposts and more.On July 10, Instagram started allowing Google and other search engines to index public posts from over-18 professional accounts. It will include content going back to 2020. I’m not entirely clear on what’s new, because Google already indexes at least some Instagram public posts, including some of mine from my non-professional account. But maybe this means more?
Meta’s Threads is now two, with 350 million monthly active users and growing. That’s getting close to X’s user numbers.
The latest version of Mastodon has a number of improvements, including an updated profile where you can feature hashtags or other profiles. It also has a widget that shows if someone you follow is following that profile. It’s also easier to manage list, has an improved audio player, better zooming on images, and a reminder (that you can disable) to add alt text to images. It also takes the first step towards supporting quote posts - you can see quote posts from other platforms, but you can’t create a quote post (yet).
I don’t even know where to begin with this. This week Grok, the AI built into X, was tweaked to "not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated". And so of course it started celebrating Adolf Hitler and spewing racist, anti-Jewish, and other hateful comments. It’s supposedly being fixed. Meanwhile, it was also discovered that Grok specifically searches Elon Musk’s tweets for information if you ask about a controversial topic. All AI bots are biased in some way, but this is just especially bad.
Also, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has stepped down. She thanked Musk for the opportunity, but didn’t give a reason for leaving. (The reason probably would have been something vague like “I want to spend more time with my family” anyway.)
Productivity
Gmail
has a new Manage Subscriptions tab
that shows you a list of your subscriptions (most frequent senders
first), with the option to unsubscribe.
Google Meet meeting hosts with access to Gemini can now choose to send meeting notes to all invited guests.
Google Drive for web has an updated interface with the Home tab showing cards with important information, like files that need your attention, or files that have been shared with you.
You can now use Gemini in Google Drive to help you organize your files (if you have access to Gemini in Workspace).
There are now official Lucidspark and Lucidchart apps for Google Chat.
Google AI Mode is coming to Circle to Search on your Android device in the US and India. You can use it while you are playing a game to get tips and hints.
The Conversation: MIT researchers say using ChatGPT can rot your brain. The truth is a little more complicated
Annalee Newitz explains why newsletters won’t save journalism. And Bethany Brookshire notes that successful news newsletters are more like op/eds than investigative journalism. (Bluesky)
Google Meet meeting hosts with access to Gemini can now choose to send meeting notes to all invited guests.
Google Drive for web has an updated interface with the Home tab showing cards with important information, like files that need your attention, or files that have been shared with you.
You can now use Gemini in Google Drive to help you organize your files (if you have access to Gemini in Workspace).
There are now official Lucidspark and Lucidchart apps for Google Chat.
Google AI Mode is coming to Circle to Search on your Android device in the US and India. You can use it while you are playing a game to get tips and hints.
More Reading (and watching)
Watch Bilawal Sidhu's documentary on Google Earth, with interviews with Rebecca Moore (Former Director) and Matt Hancher (Director of Engineering). "We thought we were mapping the world, but we ended up mapping ourselves, creating a mirror that's now becoming a crystal ball." Hearing their stories about using Earth to fight illegal logging and to help rescue people after natural desires, it strikes me that this is a good example of how information is power. And it’s all on your favorite device.The Conversation: MIT researchers say using ChatGPT can rot your brain. The truth is a little more complicated
Annalee Newitz explains why newsletters won’t save journalism. And Bethany Brookshire notes that successful news newsletters are more like op/eds than investigative journalism. (Bluesky)
Time Magazine
listed its most influential creators. How many do you recognize?
Thanks for reading! 🌼
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Thanks for reading! 🌼
✉ Subscribe to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox or favorite feed reader every week. Miss last week’s update? Get the July 5 edition.
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