YouTube creators meet Pope Francis to discuss promoting understanding and empathy

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YouTube has helped millions of people see that we have a lot in common, despite our differences. Building these bridges can start with a simple conversation, and over the past 11 years, we’ve seen YouTube creators use the power of video to do just that. From Hayla Ghazal encouraging women in the Middle East and around the world to speak up, to Dulce Candy sharing her own story as an undocumented immigrant and military veteran, creators from around the world have used our platform to express themselves, encourage new perspectives, and inspire solidarity within global fan bases.

We want to continue empowering people to come to YouTube to tell stories and form connections that encourage empathy and understanding between diverse communities.

That’s why today 11 international YouTube creators met with Pope Francis, who cares deeply about bringing young people together. This first-of-its-kind dialogue took place during the VI Scholas World Congress, which the Pope created to encourage peace through real encounters with youth from different backgrounds.

The YouTube creators who participated in this conversation represent more than 27 million subscribers globally. They come from ten different countries and diverse religious backgrounds: Louise Pentland (United Kingdom), Lucas Castel (Argentina), Matemática Río (Brazil), Hayla Ghazal (United Arab Emirates), Dulce Candy (United States), Matthew Patrick (United States), Jamie and Nikki (Australia and South Sudan/Egypt), Greta Menchi (Italy), Los Polinesios (Mexico) and anna RF (Israel).



During the conversation with the Pope, these creators raised topics that they are passionate about as role models, including immigrant rights, gender equality, loneliness and self-esteem, and greater respect for diversity of all kinds.

We’re inspired by the many conversations these creators have sparked throughout their YouTube journeys. To hear more about what they discussed at the Vatican today, tune in to each of their channels for personal videos in the coming weeks. We hope to continue helping people share their stories - the more we can all understand, the more we can come together as a global community.

Juniper Downs, Head of Policy for YouTube, recently watched “I am a Muslim, hug me if you trust me.”

YouTube brings E3 to you wherever you are

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Last year, millions of gamers came together on YouTube for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). We watched as Bethesda unveiled “Fallout 4,” and many of us had our prayers answered when Square Enix shared a first look at the “Final Fantasy VII” remake. For more than a few gamers, E3 is the must-see gaming event of the year, an annual moment that defines the industry (and our collective wallets) for the coming 12 months.

YouTube will give gamers around the world front-row access to everything E3 again this year with dozens of live streams scheduled throughout the week. To make moments like this even better, we are launching event pages in YouTube Gaming, which serve as destinations for watching the biggest gaming and eSports events. Kicking things off, we’ll have a unique event hub for E3, available at gaming.youtube.com/e3 in June.

A home for live streams and on-demand videos, the YouTube Gaming E3 hub will put all our E3 coverage in one place. You’ll be able to browse videos and streams, chat live with fellow gamers, vote for your favorite trailers in the legendary Trailer Battle, and catch up on announcements you might have missed.

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Coverage begins on Sunday, June 12, with early press conferences from EA and Bethesda. Stay tuned on YouTube after the press conferences because you won't want to miss post-coverage from our friends at Rooster Teeth - who will be streaming from the conference throughout the week.

The play-by-play coverage continues on Monday, June 13 at 9 a.m. PT, with YouTube Live at E3, an exclusive 12-hour stream hosted by Geoff Keighley and brought to you by Samsung. Live at E3 will bring you the live coverage of press conferences you crave along with developer interviews, live let’s plays of new games you won’t find anywhere else, and surprise guests like MatPat, iHasCupquake and CaptainSparklez.


Speaking about MatPat, if you’re in L.A. before E3, make sure to stop by the YouTube Space LA for a fan event on June 8 and a peek at MatPat's Game Lab. RSVP here.

See you at E3!

Ryan Wyatt, Global Head of Gaming Content, recently watched “Game Lab: TEST Games In Real Life then EXPERIENCE them in VR!

A YouTube experience like nothing you've seen before

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Ever wish you could swim with sharks, ride in an Indy Car, or go on a world tour? Well, later this year you’ll be able to experience these events and more as if you were really there with the YouTube VR app.

For more than a year, we’ve been adding support for new video and audio formats on YouTube like 360-degree video, VR video and Spatial Audio. These were the first steps on our way toward a truly immersive video experience, and now we're taking another one with the YouTube VR app for Daydream, Google's platform for high-quality mobile virtual reality, announced today at Google I/O.

We’re creating the YouTube VR app to provide an easier, more immersive way to find and experience virtual reality content on YouTube. It also comes with all the YouTube features you already love, like voice search, discovery, and playlists, all personalized for you, so you can experience the world's largest collection of VR videos in a whole new way.

And thanks to the big, early bet we made on 360-degree and 3-D video, you will be able to see all of YouTube’s content on the app—everything from classic 16x9 videos to 360-degree footage to cutting-edge VR experiences in full 3-D. Whether you want a front row seat to your favorite concert, access to the best museums in the world, or a midday break from work watching your favorite YouTube creator, YouTube VR will have it all.

To bring even more great VR content onto YouTube, we’ve been working with some amazing creators to experiment with new formats that offer a wide range of virtual experiences. We’re already collaborating with the NBA, BuzzFeed and Tastemade to explore new ways of storytelling in virtual environments that will provide valuable lessons about the way creators and viewers interact with VR video. Stay tuned!

We’ve also been working with camera partners to make Jump-ready cameras, such as the GoPro Odyssey, available to creators, to help make the production of VR video more accessible. And today, we’re officially launching our Jump program at the YouTube Spaces in L.A. and NYC and we will it bring to all YouTube Space locations around the globe soon.

We’re just beginning to understand what a truly immersive VR experience can bring to fans of YouTube, but we’re looking forward to making that future a (virtual) reality.

Kurt Wilms, Senior Product Manager, YouTube Virtual Reality, recently watched "Insane 360 video of close-range tornado near Wray, CO yesterday!"

Highlights from tonight’s YouTube Brandcast event: What’s next for Google Preferred

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Tonight, YouTube hosted our fifth annual Brandcast in New York, our digital Newfronts event, where we showcase the best of YouTube to advertisers and agencies. With a little help from Big Bird, the Whip Nae Nae, and Sia, we showed that YouTube is where the world chooses to watch: on mobile alone, we now reach more 18-49 year-olds in the U.S. than any broadcast or cable TV network.1

As a result, our influence is greater than ever. In fact, nearly 60 percent of YouTube subscribers say they’d follow a YouTube creator’s advice on what to buy over that of their favorite TV or movie star. And the influence of YouTube stars continues to grow—last year, 6 in 10 of the most influential celebrities among teens were YouTubers, and this year that number jumped to 8 in 10.

To help brands capture some of this momentum, we have a premium content offering called Google Preferred that features creators like Lilly Singh, sWooZie and Laura Vitale. Organized into 13 lineup categories—including Comedy, Music, and Food & Recipes—Google Preferred is easy to buy and gives advertisers access to the most-loved and most-watched content on YouTube. In fact, Google Preferred reaches more people in the U.S. on mobile than all full episode players combined.2 And, we announced at Brandcast that Google Preferred just got better. Here’s how:

1. More Can’t-Miss Moments With Google Preferred Breakout Videos

Pop culture moments like the Harlem Shake and Let It Go are as unexpected as they are popular. While Google Preferred gives brands access to established creator channels, our new Breakout Videos offering lets them advertise on emerging content—the hottest and fastest-rising videos on YouTube. With the launch of Google Preferred Breakout Videos in the U.S., brands can be there alongside the next breakout star.

2. More Ease and Relevance with Programmatic Guaranteed for Google Preferred

To make it even easier to be there in the moment viewers are watching, upfront buyers will soon be able to execute their Google Preferred—and Breakout Videos—buy programmatically through DoubleClick Bid Manager. This means all video campaigns (including TrueView, Google Preferred, and cross-exchange) can be managed in one place.

3. More Sports Fans With NBA Highlights on Google Preferred

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also took to the Brandcast stage to announce that NBA inventory is now part of Google Preferred. Top NBA highlights will surface in Google Search and on YouTube, offering brands access to the NBA’s loyal fan base across screens. In addition, the NBA will soon launch two new VR series on YouTube that give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at team arenas and their favorite players.

4. More Great Results for Brands

With new additions like Breakout Videos, Programmatic Guaranteed, and NBA highlights, Google Preferred will keep delivering massive reach, and strong results for brands.

Already this year, among the Google Preferred campaigns we measured, 75 percent drove lifts in consideration3 and 61 percent drove lifts in favorability.4 Google Preferred is driving results later in the consumer journey, too: it raised purchase intent in two-thirds of campaigns.5

Results like these have encouraged nearly twice the number of brands in the U.S. to take advantage of Google Preferred in the last year.6

Chime in with your Google Preferred questions and comments on #Brandcast, and check out six questions every brand should consider after Brandcast. We’ll post even more content after the show on the Brandcast website.

Kate Stanford, Head of Global Advertiser Marketing at YouTube, recently watched "Imagine the Possibilities."

1Google-commissioned Nielsen study U.S., December 2015. Audience Reach among Persons 18-49 for YouTube (mobile only) and 124 individual U.S. cable and broadcast networks (television only).

2Google/Millward Brown Digital Google Preferred Mobile Clickstream Analysis US, October 2015 (Full episode players on mobile browser or app include: Netflix, HBO, Hulu, NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, sourced from the 20,000 person Mobile Compete Clickstream Panel).

3Google Preferred Brand Lift Meta Analysis, 2015 and Q1 2016. Results for 242 US Google Preferred Consideration Studies.

4Google Preferred Brand Lift Meta Analysis, 2015 and Q1 2016. Results for 44 US Google Preferred Favorability Studies.

5Google Preferred Brand Lift Meta Analysis, 2015 and Q1 2016. Results for 80 US Google Preferred Purchase Intent studies.

6Google data, US, Q1 2016 vs Q1 2015.