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What makes a good ad? In some cases, it’s a striking image. In others, a funny premise. There’s no formula, but most memorable ads all have something in common: they tell a story worth sharing. 

Sharing is at the heart of the YouTube experience. From Metro Trains’ Dumb Ways to Die and TNT’s Dramatic Surprise to Chipotle combining powers with Willie Nelson, many of the most popular videos on YouTube are from brands that understand the power of great storytelling and creating content people choose to watch and share.

To recognize videos like these, YouTube is once again teaming up with TED’s Ads Worth Spreading initiative to celebrate the year’s most creative and notable ads. The award is given to the brands and agencies creating innovative ads that people can’t stop sharing.

Thirty of the most creative minds in the ad world, like those behind the videos above, along with TED speakers including Sarah Kay and Alanna Shaikh, will help find and nominate 2013’s most noteworthy ads. Winners will be announced during the annual TED conference in March 2014 (for more information, check out the full list of nomination teams and advocates).

As part of our involvement, we’ll add a viewer’s choice component to the nominated videos. We’ll rank the most popular videos based on actual YouTube views using the methodology behind our YouTube Ads Leaderboard, which publishes the most watched and shared ads on YouTube each month.

For insights into what makes an ad worth spreading, check out this article and interview video. Or just watch the playlist of last year’s winning ads. Combined, these ads have been viewed more than 140 million times on YouTube.



Tara Levy, Managing Director of Ads Marketing for Google and YouTube, recently watched “Volvo Trucks - The Epic Split feat. Van Damme (Live Test 6).”

Love YouTube? Love Xbox? You can now watch your favorite videos and channels with the YouTube app for Xbox One. Check out videos in 1080p glory (Slip and Slide LAUNCH RAMP anyone?), catch the latest videos from your subscriptions like Polaris, or see trending videos from categories like Music and Sports.

The YouTube app for Xbox One also makes it easier to find and watch whatever you want:

• Voice - Control the app just by saying "YouTube" wherever you are in the app. Commands like play, pause, and fast forward will instantly pop up on screen.
• Gesture - Grab the screen to scroll through videos, and use your hand to pick which one you want to watch.

Need something to keep you going through these last few hours before Xbox One arrives? Check out all the game trailers you’ll play soon, or any of the hundreds of thousands of unboxing videos already on YouTube.

Emmanuel Saint-Loubert-Bié, Engineering Manager, and Luke Bayes, Staff Web Developer, recently watched “Stereotypes: Madden.”

In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels drive significant YouTube watch time but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. This month, with your help, we’re sharing with you four dedicated partners who are getting quite close to hitting that milestone so you can help give them a chance to jumpstart their audience development and channel growth. The nominees this November are on a strong trajectory, building watch time and subscribers through the engaging bowling, music, news, and scrapbooking videos they showcase on their respective channels. 

Here’s where you come in--you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.

In past months, featured On The Rise partners like StanWinstonSchool and thundermistlures have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until November 14, 5 p.m. PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on November 30.

BowlTV
Struggling to get a bowling score over 100? The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) has almost 600 videos dedicated to coaching tips, live events, and interviews to help improve your game.

 

samandthewomp
This band hails from the U.K. and if you don’t already know what womping is, they’ll teach you. The trio just released their new single, "Ravo," which you can preview below.

 

Buzz60
You’re busy, and the Buzz60 team knows you may not always have time to watch the morning news or crack open the paper. Their channel is chock-full of newsy video “snacks” that you can consume quickly and share easily.

   

AboveRubiesStudio
The holidays are fast approaching and what better way to capture those special moments than with a scrapbook. Megan shows you how to use different techniques and tools to create memorable works of art.

 

If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, we encourage you to visit our On The Rise homepage. You can check out all of our past featured partners on the Featured Partners tab, or nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the program on the Nominate tab. Feel free to submit nominations for your own channel, or for channels you follow that you think deserve more attention or could be the next YouTube sensation. We’ll continue to feature promising partners who drive YouTube watch time, have fewer than 100,000 subscribers, and produce engaging content on a regular basis.

Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “YouTube Challenge - I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy 2013.”

Let’s say you’re enjoying Lindsey Stirling or Epic Rap Battles’ latest video and want to join in the conversation. Would you rather see comments from people you care about (including Lindsey or ERB themselves), or just whoever in the world was last to post?

We told you recently that better commenting is coming to YouTube. Starting this week, when you’re watching a video on YouTube, you’ll see comments sorted by people you care about first. If you post videos on your channel, you also have more tools to moderate welcome and unwelcome conversations. This way, YouTube comments will become conversations that matter to you.

Here’s more detail about the new YouTube comments powered by Google+:

• Comments you care about move to the top: You’ll see posts at the top of the list from the video’s creator, popular personalities, engaged discussions about the video, and people in your Google+ Circles. You can still see the most recent comments by switching from “Top Comments” to “Newest First.”
• Join the conversation publicly or privately: You can choose to start a conversation so that it is seen by everyone, only people in your Circles, or just your bestie. Like Gmail, replies are threaded so you can easily follow conversations.
• Easily moderate comments: If you also post videos on your channel, you’ll have new tools to review comments before they’re posted, block certain words or save time by auto-approving comments from certain fans.

If you're like the majority of people commenting on YouTube, you’ve already connected your account to a Google+ profile or page and can start commenting now. If you haven’t connected yet, you can do it here or learn more here. Remember, you’re in control of how you're seen publicly on YouTube, whether that’s keeping your current YouTube channel name, using your own name, or creating a new one.



Nundu Janakiram, Product Manager, and Yonatan Zunger, Principal Engineer, recently watched “Mexican Standoff (ft. Key & Peele).”

New York, NY: On Sunday, November 3 at Pier 36 in New York City, YouTube hosted the inaugural YouTube Music Awards, a celebration of music honoring the artists and songs that YouTube fans have turned into global hits over the past year. Unlike traditional award shows, this event presented live performances by top artists, alongside some of YouTube’s biggest stars, including Arcade Fire, Avicii, CDZA, Earl Sweatshirt, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Lindsey Stirling, M.I.A., Tyler, The Creator and Walk off the Earth.

Hosted by Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts and executive produced by VICE Media and Sunset Lane Entertainment, the event was lead by creative director Spike Jonze in collaboration with co-creative director Chris Milk, and directors Damien Kulash, Fafi, James Larese, Joe Sabia, Tyler the Creator, and Ray Tintori. The event was presented in partnership with Kia Motors Corporation.

In the run up to the YouTube Music Awards, four music events were also streamed from around the world on YouTube from Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio.

Modern day music fans from across the globe spoke loud and clear, casting winning votes for artists in the following categories:

YOUTUBE MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS LIST*

Video of the Year: Girls' Generation - I Got A Boy
Recognizes this year’s biggest videos, based on what you watched, shared, liked and commented on.

Artist of the Year: Eminem
Honors the biggest acts of the last year on YouTube, based on total number of views, likes, shares, comments and subscribers.

Response of the Year: Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix - Radioactive
Recognizes the best fan remixes, covers or parodies, based on your views, likes, shares and comments.

YouTube Phenomenon: Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
Recognizes the YouTube videos that inspired the biggest number of fan responses.

YouTube Breakthrough: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Recognizes the biggest breakout acts on YouTube, based on artists with the highest growth in views and subscribers over the past year.

Innovation of the Year: DeStorm - See Me Standing
Recognizes some of the most unique concepts and creators in music videos on YouTube this year.

*Nominations for the YouTube Music Awards were announced on October 21, 2013, and based on YouTube data over the last 12 months from September 2012, with nominees representing the artists and videos with the highest levels of YouTube fan engagement, including views, likes, shares, comments, and subscriptions. Fans were able to vote from October 21 through the start of the Awards by sharing official YTMA nomination videos across Google+, Twitter and Facebook.

The countdown is on. In just two days, we’ll host the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, celebrating the videos that you watched, shared, and loved the most over the past year.

Whether you’re crazy for Slim Shady, gaga for Gaga or cuckoo for K-Pop, this Sunday, November 3 show will have something for everyone. Each nomination category was created by your views, comments, likes, subscriptions and shares. (That’s how we ended up with six epic battles - check the data behind Video and Artist of the Year here!) Creative director Spike Jonze has loads of surprises up his sleeve, and co-hosts Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts are planning to bring you a night that’s as unique as your favorite playlist.

And YOU could be in it.

That’s right. We’re asking you to upload a video to putmeintheytmas.com for a chance to be featured. Check out Jason’s video for more on how your creativity could become a part of the big show:


If a video selfie isn’t your thing, there’s still time to participate. Vote for your favorite artists, songs and videos, at youtube.com/musicawards or by searching “YTMA” on YouTube.

And then join us! Starting at 5 a.m. ET on Sunday, tune in at youtube.com/musicawards to catch music events from Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio, culminating in the live event from Pier 36 in New York City at 6 p.m. ET.

See you there!

The YTMA Team recently watched “Be Part of the YTMAs - Jason Schwartzman Tells You How.”