Back in 2022, YouTube announced that it would be blocking channels run by Russian media, such as Sputnik and RT. This ban was specifically for posting content about the Ukraine invasion by Russia. The content published violated YouTube’s policies and minimized the documented and violent events happening in the war. These channels were blocked in Europe before the block expanded globally. Although there is no exact amount of channels and videos removed, it has been estimated that over 1,000 channels and 15,000 videos were taken off the platform within ten days of the announcement.

Google has steadily accumulated a fine of 100,000 rubles every day since 2020. This came after Russian media outlets, RIA FAN and Tsagrad won their lawsuits against Google for the blocking of their channels. According to a report, this fine has doubled every week since. It has been said that 17 TV channels from Russia have filed a lawsuit against Google in their home country’s courts.

$2.5 Decillion Fined by Russia on Google: More background on this lawsuit

A court from Russia has given YouTube the ultimatum that if it does not restore the channels from the Russian broadcaster, the company will face more heavy fines. The $2.5 decillion fine would thus be doubled every day unless it is paid within nine months.

Considering the mind-boggling debt, Google LLC, a subsidiary of the company based in Russia filed for bankruptcy in 2022. During that period, the company’s assets in Russia amounted only to 3.5 billion rubles, while the debt reached over 19 billion rubles.

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The AI-generated video summaries were previously limited to selected English-language videos, but a global rollout will now allow the feature to reach more audiences. YouTube has stated that these summaries utilise generative AI to make a short and basic summary of a specific YouTube video. These summaries let viewers know what they should be expecting from the video. The company has also cleared that these AI-generated summaries do not in any way act as a replacement or disrupt the creator’s ability to write their content descriptions. However, this feature was brought in to act as a complimentary or extra content for viewers to find relevant or specific information much more efficiently.

YouTube has also announced a revamp of the Studio Mobile. The changes brought in by the company include an option to view lists for each content format, and a simplified version of the visibility of the monetisation status. The video-sharing platform has also stated that it will be bringing in new changes in the community engagement section. The ‘comments’ tab is being rebranded into ‘community’. This will I’m[rove the audience’s metrics as well as moderation. Other features also include a community spotlight to highlight viewers who are engaged. Comments suggestions by AI are also among the features highlighted.

AI-Generated Video Summaries: More on this new update

Besides the AI-generated video summaries expansion, YouTube is also testing out a new AI-powered chatbot on the Studio desktop version. This support chatbot will be useful for creators and it will be available for select creators for the testing duration. YouTube states that features mentioned in the announcement will be released over the coming weeks and months.

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Image Credits: Photo by Collabstr on Unsplash

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YouTube will now allow its creators to post Shorts up to 3 minutes long, which was highly requested by the platform’s creators. This new update will apply to ‘square or taller’ video aspect ratios. The platform is also bringing in new updates to streamline the player. It will focus on its creators and the content they make.

In addition to the Longer Shorts feature, users can also recreate a Short with templates. Creators can try this new feature by clicking on Remix which can be seen on a Short. The users can then click on the Use This Template option which lets the user recreate and join in on the trend. Furthermore, YouTube has also stated that creators will be able to access content from the platform straight from their Shorts camera. This feature aims to make it more convenient for creators to remix various clips from their different videos. The creators can utilise more than one clip as long as it’s available on YouTube.

Longer Shorts Feature: More features introduced in this new update

YouTube previously announced that Veo, a video generation model would be arriving in YouTube Shorts. The Veo integration will let creators breathe life into their creative ideas with great visuals for backgrounds or just standalone clips.

YouTube’s viewers will also be able to receive previews of the comments from the Shorts. The viewers don’t even have to click on the comments to see what people are talking about. The video-sharing platform is also introducing more customisation options. Users will be able to personalise their experience based on their viewing preferences. ‘Show fewer Shorts’ will show fewer shorts to the user’s Home feed.

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This feature was unveiled during the Made on recently held YouTube event. Oluwa Falodun, a communication manager from YouTube has confirmed that the platform has started rolling this feature out. Google has been documented to have tested Pause Ads as a beta version last year. Although this beta version was tested out only with a smaller group of advertisers. The beta version proved to be a success among advertising firms and so Google has decided to go full throttle with this feature.

Described as a non-interruptive type of advertising, this feature was first launched on TVs through the YouTube app. Mobile users are steadily seeing this feature take effect as well. YouTube has not mentioned whether the amount of normal ads being displayed will be decreased. But it is unlikely as YouTube is pushing more ads onto its free users as evidenced by the unskippable ads introduced in 2023. YouTube is not the only platform that has rolled out pause screen ads. For instance, Hulu and Sling TV also have this feature integrated into their service.

Pause Ads: Reason behind the introduction of this new feature

YouTube’s direction into this ad-filled platform might have an ulterior motive. The video-sharing platform is probably pushing all these ads to drive their free users to subscribe to YouTube Premium.

YouTube Premium is YouTube’s subscription service that offers users zero ads while using YouTube. Other perks such as YouTube Music are also bundled into Premium’s plan. There are several different plans for users to choose from. The cheapest plan is the Student Plan but other plans such as Family and Individual plans are also offered.

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Google’s DeepMind’s VEO, an AI video generation model, will come to Dream Screen later in the year. Users can bring their ideas to life with beautiful video backgrounds. All creations by VEO will receive a SynthIS watermark. Other viewers will also see a label signifying that it was AI-generated. A new dubbing tool has also been unveiled at the Made On YouTube event. YouTube stated that creators will be able to generate translations for audio tracks for their videos in various languages.

YouTube is introducing a new look for the Inspiration Tab found in YouTube Studio. This will assist users will curating suggestions and transforming these suggestions into an actual project. Additionally, the platform will also be bringing a shortcut to take users directly to the Inspiration Tab.

Made On YouTube: Community Features Announced At The Event

The annual event also saw new features centred around building a community on the platform. Communities, a brand new space for creators to connect with their fans has also been unveiled. The Communities section serves as a space for the creators’ fans to interact with each other. Viewers can post their content on the creator’s Community. Furthermore, the newly introduced Hybe feature lets the creator’s fans support them in the form of ‘hype points’. The videos with the most amount of hype points will be shown on a leaderboard which increases the creator’s chances of being discovered by more people.

YouTube will also be revamping the Comments section in its Studio app into ‘Community’. Creators can utilise an AI-powered feature that suggests replies to comments. The suggested replies are also said to be tailored to the creator’s style.

New avenues to gain revenue have also been introduced. Viewers will be able to gift ‘Jewels’ and gifts to creators. The YouTube Shopping affiliate program will be expanded to more countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

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YouTube parental control features for teens have been introduced as the platform expands its set of parental control features. This feature gives parents access to their teen’s YouTube activity once the teen’s account has been linked to the parent’s account. 

This newly released feature aims to keep parents informed about what their teens are watching on YouTube. It builds on YouTube’s pre-teen parental control feature. The new YouTube Parental Control for teens will be rolling out to families worldwide this week. Teens will soon be able to link their YouTube accounts to their parents’ accounts through the Family Centre hub. 

The Family Center lets parents access insights of their children’s YouTube activity including the comments posted, channel subscriptions and uploads. This extends even to private video uploads and unlisted videos. Furthermore, they will also be notified when privacy settings have been changed. Parents using this feature will also be sent an email notifying them of when their teen uploads a video or starts a livestream. It gives parents the perfect opportunity to give their teens advice on responsible creation. 

YouTube Parental Control: More on this feature

YouTube has stated that the linking of accounts will not affect the algorithm of content being when to the teen. This is because the algorithm is personalised to the teen. Additionally, the parents will not be allowed to disclose the age of their child to YouTube with the linking of accounts as the platform already goes by the teen’s age when they signed up. 

This parental supervision of such platforms ensures the child’s safety. It lets parents know what kind of content their child likes to watch and what interest they have. This could bring both parents and child closer together. Other social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and more have also implemented parental control over their child’s accounts. 

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This collaboration between Apple and Google makes the process of switching between its streaming platforms smoother and hassle-free. This feature is only available for those with an Apple Music, iTunes or YouTube Music subscription. It should be noted that this feature is only possible for Apple and YouTube music streaming platforms so Spotify users are left out of the fun.

However, there are certain limitations with these features as users can only transfer playlists that they have created. This means that playlists curated by other users cannot be moved. Moreover, music files that have been uploaded are also excluded from this feature capability. Audiobooks and podcasts cannot be moved between Apple and YouTube music streaming services as well.

Apple Music and YouTube Music Cross-Transfer: How to get started

To move their playlists, users will first have to go to the Apple Data and Privacy page and sign with their Apple ID. Users will then have to click on ‘Transfer a Copy of Your Data’ after which, users sign into their accounts on YouTube Music to finish the transfer process. When the transfer is undergoing, Apple will send an email notifying the users with the emails linked with their Apple ID. After the transfer of playlists has been completed, Apple will send a confirmation email to the users.

This is not Apple and Google’s first-ever collaboration as both companies have also worked together before. The two tech giants collaborated previously to transfer photos between Google Photos and iCloud Photos. This transfer was done through DTI (Data Transfer Initiative).

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All subscription tiers will be facing a price increase and some tiers will see a higher price hike while other plans may not be as drastically hit. YouTube Premium India has already reflected the new prices on its platform. The prepaid and other timed interval plans have been updated.

YouTube Premium India: Updated Prices

The Family Plan is the tier with the highest increase among all other tiers. The Family Plan has increased from Rs 189 to Rs 299 monthly showing a drastic hike in price. Furthermore, the Individual Plan priced at Rs 129 per month has increased to Rs 149 monthly.

Prepaid plans have also been updated with an increase from Rs 139 to Rs 159 per month. The six-month prepaid plan has increased to Rs 459 from Rs 399. Lastly, the yearly prepaid plan will now be priced at Rs 1490. This marks a Rs 200 hike from the older price of Rs 1290.

The Student Plan has also been affected by this price hike. However, it is the most affordable option compared to the rest of the tiers. The Student Plan has been priced at Rs 89 from Rs 79 which is only a Rs 10 difference.

YouTube has also increased the prices of YouTube Music as the Individual Plan which used to cost Rs 99 per month now costs Rs 199. However, if people are already subscribed to YouTube Premium India, they will be receiving YouTube Music as a part of the Premium bundle.

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The video-sharing platform has recently introduced new features for its Premium subscribers. A few features already exist for long-form videos but the update has extended the feature to Shorts.

YouTube Premium Update and its new features

Picture-in-Picture feature for Shorts – This feature enables users to use play shorts in a smaller video in the background while they use their phone to browse other content or apps. This background play feature was already available for longer videos. YouTube is now rolling out this new feature on Android. 

Jump Ahead – This new feature lets users double-tap on the video to get to the best parts of the video. To detect the ‘best part’ of the video, the video-sharing app combines the user’s viewing data with machine learning. Jump Ahead has been available for testing for a few weeks and it will gradually be available for all Android users soon. iOS will receive this feature later on. 

Smart Downloads for Shorts – Smart Download is also coming to YouTube Shorts. This feature enables auto-downloading of shorts for users to view offline. This auto-download feature will be based on the users’ Shorts history.

Other features include an AI chatbot which allows users to ask questions or inquire about the video. Users can also ask the chatbot to provide video suggestions. This feature was available in 2023 but the company took it down. It will now make its comeback in Android for users in the United States. However, this feature is stated to be available only for a limited period. 

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If you are someone who has not been living under a rock you must have felt the sheer rise in the advertising campaign in the YouTube space. Where once social media was just a mere streaming platform now holds a big marketing value. Users have reported witnessing more than 2 ads in a single video. This has caused frustration among many users, causing many to use third-party adblocking applications.

YouTube quite recently has streamlined its platform in a way that offers ad-free streaming services but only for premium users. This has amounted to lots of users switching to alternate browsers with adblocking applications to some installing extensions.

AdGuard is an ad-blocking service for Microsoft Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, and iOS. AdGuard is also available as a browser extension. It has been one of the most used Adblocking applications used to block ads running on YouTube. Although AdGuard has not been affected by YouTube’s policy since its app doesn’t use YouTube’s API.

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According to YouTube it only allows third-party apps to use their API when they follow their API Services Terms of Service. YouTube has now shown its concern for users using AdBlocking applications. It warns everyone using Adblockers. YouTube is encouraging its users to use the premium version to avoid advertisements. This might not be pleasant news to all users, but according to YouTube’s policy standards, it shall take appropriate actions if found not following the policy guidelines.

YouTube is focusing on building its walls of policies and guidelines stronger than before. We saw it planning on labeling AI content earlier this year. With this breakout of Adblocking applications, one can only argue that YouTube has lost its freedom as a streaming platform. Users have raised their voices on YouTube becoming a marketing hub lately, with companies promoting advertisements. However, the debate of good and bad will remain subjective.

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