HI-TRANSFER

Making it easier to connect with the content you love was the aim of the redesigned homepage and channel layouts we launched in December of last year. You can now start with a video you love, discover and follow a whole channel of great content from that creator or curator, and organize all the channels you love in a homepage that's always updated with the new videos you'll want to watch.

Since these updates, the data shows we’re onto something:

• Daily unique visits to channels have increased by 60 percent since December 2011
• Daily net subscriptions are up 50 percent since December 2011

Today is the next step in the new YouTube look and feel we launched in December, where all channels will be updated to the new layout. What does this mean for you? Well, for starters, you’ll now see every channel organized into one of four channel templates customized to suit different types of creators:



We’ve also built new ways to help you stay more engaged with the channels you love. For example, the Channel Feed shows you all the videos uploaded to a channel, as well as playlists and Liked videos across YouTube. The channel feed makes it clear what you’ll get if you subscribe. When you do, this feed will also be published on your homepage so you can keep up with all the latest activity from your favorite channels.



On the topic of features — a big thank you for all your feedback that we’ve incorporated over the past six months. You’ve helped us learn what works and what needs improvement as we evolved the design over time. Your feedback continues to drive updates and new features, and for all of you creators, here are a few updates to note:

• You wanted the ability to feature content prominently so we added a Featured tab and subsequently improved it with more templates and a search feature to help you program it more easily
• You told us having Favorites more accessible was important to you, so we turned it into a customizable part of your channel
• You wanted to link your +Page or your Google+ Profile to your channel, so we added this option

If you’re a YouTube creator, check out our post from last week with tips on making your channel look awesome, as well as the YouTube Creator Blog for regular updates on ways to improve your channel and connect with other creators.

The YouTube Team

From your favorite sports highlights and dance competitions to make-up tutorials, science experiments and great movies, there’s a ton of great stuff on YouTube — over three billion views worth per day by last count. More and more, behind every great video is a great Channel, and with our announcement last month that more of them are coming to YouTube, we want to make it easier for you to find and keep tabs of what you want to watch.

So, today we're introducing a new homepage, Channel design and a fresh coat of digital paint. Here are three ways these updates will improve your life on YouTube:

1. A new homepage
The YouTube homepage is your gateway to a vast entertainment universe. To help you get more into YouTube, we’re making it easier to find and follow great Channels when you arrive. On the left side of the homepage you can create your own, personal, customizable YouTube Channel line-up. Sign-in, or create a YouTube account. Then you can browse recommended Channels; customize your homepage’s feed; even link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook to see what your friends are sharing. The new homepage feed we launched earlier this year is now front and center on the homepage. You can switch between feeds by clicking on different Channels on the left.

For step by step instructions on using the new YouTube homepage, you can go to our help center.

2. Simpler, customizable Channels
Given the homepage’s new focus on helping you find and organize your favorite Channels, we would be remiss if we didn’t update the look and feel of the Channels themselves. Today we're launching an improved Channel design focused on what matters most: helping users find great videos. As different uploaders have different goals, we've created new Channel templates to meet your needs whether you produce one video a week or have thousands of videos for a fan to browse. Some partners have even uploaded videos talking about the features, or giving tips on how they’re taking advantage of the new design. To learn how to opt-in to and test this new Channel design, check out our help center.

3. A new overall design
To bring the new homepage and Channels designs together we’ve also applied a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site. In July, we unveiled an experimental design called Cosmic Panda. We’ve used your feedback to improve our overall design, and today, we’re presenting a cleaner and simpler YouTube, with a consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails and a more streamlined watch page.

Ready to get started? Your new YouTube is already shipped and waiting for you at YouTube.com, and like every new toy, we included an instruction manual (and video) to help.



Our recent Channels expansion, our grants and educational programs, and this new design are all focused on helping you discover a broader range of entertainment on YouTube. We’re always innovating and testing new stuff out to make the experience the best it can be for you. We rely on your feedback to figure out when we've gotten it right and when it needs further tweaks. So let us know what you think.

The YouTube team

You may have noticed we've been experimenting with a new YouTube homepage. After countless user studies and community surveys, one thing came in loud and clear: the homepage in its current form doesn’t mean much to most of you, and could be more personally relevant. So the goal of this experiment was to put more of an emphasis on "videos for you.”

To pave the way for this experiment, we removed some of the less-used modules such as "Videos Being Watched Now.” Then we moved modules like "Spotlight" and "Featured Videos" over to the right side. All of these changes were to make room for a combined list of personally relevant videos made up of recommendations for you, your subscriptions activity, and videos being shared by your friends.

Recently we opened up the experimental homepage to anyone who wanted to try it out. Millions of users opted in and now have this new version set as their homepage. Many of the people who tried the experimental homepage filled out our feedback form. While not everyone loved it, most people thought the new homepage was better than the old homepage.

Here are some of the enhancements offered by the new homepage (logged in users only):

• Increased focus on videos that matter to you (subscriptions, friend's sharing, recommendations)
• You can easily filter your homepage to show only the latest uploads from your subscriptions
• Don't miss anything; if a channel uploads four videos in a day, you’ll see all four - instead of just the latest video
• Quick access to the inbox when you have new messages or comments
• Knows what you have seen (videos you've watched are grayed out)
• Remove any video (hover and click the "x" button)

Although some of you might miss some features, we think this latest version is a step in the right direction. It’s simpler, more personal, and it makes it easier to follow and watch the videos that are meaningful to you. So today we're rolling out this new homepage for all logged in users worldwide.

We're dedicated to making YouTube the best place for you to discover and share great videos. Please send us your feedback in a video, in the forums, on this blog or on Twitter. As always, we’ll be listening and taking your feedback very seriously.

The YouTube Team

Check it out, people! This month’s “On the Rise” nominees are in -- and we need your help to choose a winner.

Just to remind you how this works: we identify a handful of channels who’ve rapidly increased their subscriber base in the last 30 days but haven’t yet hit the 100,000 mark. You watch their videos, and then vote for your favorite in the top right-hand corner of this blog. You have until noon PT on January 14, 2011, to make your choice. Once we have a winner, we’ll give them a big leg up with a feature on the YouTube homepage and videos page, as well as love on Facebook and Twitter. Past winners emilynoel83 and justjesse197 more than doubled the number of subscribers gained during the month of their spotlight versus the previous month, and Emily is close to hitting the 100,000 subscriber milestone herself.

And now, in alphabetical order, here are the nominees for the homepage spotlight on January 22:

Michael Aranda
You never quite know what you’re going to get with a Michael Aranda video: one minute he’s dropping knowledge, the next he’s freak-dancing -- or turning his car into an art project.



Luke Conard
Catchy pop songs. A sense of humor. Adorably goofy videos....What’s not to like about Luke Conard?



Tori Kelly
Tori Kelly’s just 18 years old, but she plays piano and guitar and sings like nobody’s business. Check out one of her original songs.



Josh Sundquist
Josh Sundquist has quite a personal story: overcoming childhood cancer and a leg amputation to become an athlete, inspirational speaker and author. Check out his sweet and affecting animations.



Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched “Taylor Momsen escapes paparazzi.”

Starting today, you might notice a button on YouTube.com asking if you want to check out an experimental homepage we’ve been working on. It’s an opt-in experiment, offering a homepage that has a real emphasis on a personalized video browsing and watching experience.

Some of the enhancements include:

• Combined list - Merges your subscriptions, friend activity, and recommendations into one easier-to-scan list (and a “Subscription uploads” tab if you only want to see subscriptions)
• Don’t miss a video - If a channel uploads 4 videos in a day, you’ll see all 4 - instead of just the latest video
• Delete anything - Hover over any video you don’t want to watch and click ‘x’
• Or just grey it out - Videos you’ve already watched will be grayed out - so even without deleting, you’ll know where you left off
• Help me re-find stuff I just watched - Your homepage will include your recent likes and favorites so you can easily get back to them
• Easy inbox - Links to your inbox (personal messages & comments) are front and center
• Load much more - Watch older videos - all without leaving the homepage

John Fisher, recently watched, "Crazy Oklahoma State Interception vs. Oklahoma - November 27, 2010".

On the Rise is a program where you determine which YouTube upstart appears on the homepage. emilynoel83, a morning news anchor who creates makeup tutorials, won the inaugural edition and was featured in November, promoted socially, and covered in the blogosphere. Emily doubled the number of subscribers she acquired in the month (compared to the month before), and her catalog also saw a boost in views.

It was so much fun that we want to do it again, taking four more channels that’ve recently seen good subscriber growth but still have less than 100,000 subscribers and putting them up to your discerning tastes. Please vote for your favorite channel in the poll in the top right corner of this blog by Tuesday, December 7, and we’ll put the lucky winner on the homepage on Saturday, December 11. Here are the nominees, in alphabetical order:

corycotton is home to a group of trick-shot basketball entertainers whose swooshes and dunks will leave you floored:



JustJesse197 is a showcase for the amazing tricks and utter cuteness of a five-year-old shortie Jack Russell Terrier named Jesse:



ShowMeTheCurry is Hetal Jannu and Anuja Balasubramanian, who offer easy-to-follow lessons in Indian cooking:



tjw1963 features Teresa teaching the world to crochet one stitch at a time:






Now go vote!

Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched “Candlelight - The Maccabeats.”

More and more of our YouTube partners are hitting subscriber numbers in the 100,000s and even in the 1,000,000s. We want to help more of you to get to those kind of subscriber numbers, which is why we’re starting a new monthly feature called “On the Rise.”

Here’s how it works: every month, we’ll pull together a list of partner channels whose subscriber rate has quickly accelerated in the last 30 days but who still have less than 100,000 subscribers. We’ll winnow that list down to a handful of channels, and then we’ll ask the community to vote on one channel to be featured on the YouTube homepage and get promoted through our social media channels on Twitter and Facebook.

So, here are the four channels vying for the inaugural spotlight, in alphabetical order:

emilynoel83 is Emily Eddington, a 26-year-old morning news anchor whose channel is devoted to all things beauty, particularly fun ideas for TV news makeup.



golf says it all: this channel consists of golf videos, tips and lessons, aggregated from Tour Links Putting Greens, BunkerShot.com, NationalSchoolForms.com and Show Me the Golf.



kalebnation, a 22-year-old vlogger who says he enjoys “wild rumpuses.”



optibotimus is “just a simple guy” that does toy reviews. “I typically stick to what I grew up loving,” he writes on his channel. “Transformers, mostly.”



You’ve got one week, until the end of the day on November 2, to vote for your favorite in the top right corner of this blog. We plan to showcase the winner on our homepage on November 6. You can also nominate yourself or your friends for next month’s feature in the comments section of this blog post (though please note: comments are moderated due to spam).

Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “The Giants Win The Pennant!”