Decade Samosa: YouTube, A video search engine to an OTT source

Over the last 10 years, YouTube has been a big boost to user-generated content, content marketing, and in general anything related to video content. For Decade Samosa, we trace its evolution journey.

The journey to becoming the default space for videos to be uploaded and viewed has been a long one for YouTube. There have been plenty of hurdles in terms of competition, content consumption changes, questionable content, and copyrights. However, it has stood strong, evolving over time. The last ten years have been key to this process.

YouTube started as a platform for people to share videos rather a video search engine. Then, it made easier for people to create videos, facilitating the growth of creators. Next came the wave of helping them make money off the content they created.

Along the sidelines, it kept working with key players to expand on political and journalism content on the platform. Music, gaming, education and entertainment are some of the key content verticals for YouTube. Award and offline events have helped the platform fuel this progress.

On the technical front, better quality formats have emerged and so have new avenues. Layouts have changed multiple times with visuals becoming more prominent than before. Long format storytelling has become easier to disseminate. Here's more on how the platform has changed over the years.

January 2010: Track video processing progress with thumbnail flipbook

January 2010: Video page gets revamped with streamlined display

February 2010: Now you can queue videos, comment visual responses

February 2010: New tool alert: Video Speed Dashboard

February 2010: YouTube introduces Safety Mode

March 2010: Now connect YouTube to Facebook for real-time sharing

March 2010: Now, a new default size for embedded videos

March 2010: YouTube improves accessibility with auto-captioning

April 2010: Introducing YouTube Show & Tell

April 2010: Experiments with email alerts, share to Buzz and Blogger

May 2010: Unlisted videos are now available

July 2010: Upload limit increases to 15 minutes for all users

July 2010: Mobile website gets an upgrade

July 2010: YouTube to support 4K videos

July 2010: Investing in video with Partner Grant Program

October 2010: 15 channels cross the one million subscriber mark

October 2010: YouTube launches on Google TV

November 2010: Control YouTube on desktop, TV with YouTube app

March 2011: YouTube nudges people to connect Google accounts

June 2011: Embedded videos to be displayed in search

June 2011: Creative Commons tie-up to help creators in edits

August 2011: Promoted videos reach one billion views globally

November 2011: YouTube expands presence to Colombia

November 2011: Video giant announces YouTube Analytics

November 2011: YouTube launches in IsiZulu and Afrikaans

November 2011: Google+ welcomes YouTube presence

December 2011: Introducing YouTube Slam, a video discovery experiment

December 2011: Dabbling in education content with YouTube for Schools

January 2012: Releasing a new look for the browser

February 2012: More options for enhanced caption support

February 2012: Access in Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu

March 2012: YouTube expands to Korea, Peru, Malaysia, and Chile

May 2012: YouTube turns 7, celebrates 72 hrs video uploads every minute

June 2012: Now, customise your profile display

June 2012: YouTube joins Pinterest

June 2012: Launching YouTube app for Android

June 2012: Automatic captions now available in Spanish

July 2012: Google Video content moves to YouTube

September 2012: Launching YouTube app for iPhone and iPod touch

November 2012: Making it easier to watch videos on TV

November 2012: Automatic Captions now available German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Dutch

March 2013: YouTube Hits a Billion Monthly Users

February 2014: Launching a new look for web

December 2014: Introducing YouTube Offline in India

January 2015: New tab, just for music

February 2015: Launching YouTube Kids

March 2015: YouTube turns 10

June 2015: YouTube launches YouTube Gaming

July 2015: Apps get new tabs: Home, Subscriptions, Account

October 2015: YouTube Red goes live in the US

November 2015: YouTube now supports VR video

February 2016: First of YouTube Red Originals released

April 2016: A new mobile design for your Home

April 2016: YouTube allows 360-degree live streaming

June 2016: Introducing YouTube Director

August 2016: YouTube Kids now works with YouTube Red

September 2016: Introducing YouTube Creators for Change

November 2016: YouTube Kids gets better parental controls

November 2016: YouTube to now support HDR videos

February 2017: Now Live Stream from mobile

February 2017: YouTube Kids turns two!

February 2017: Over a billion videos now have Automatic Captions

April 2017: YouTube TV is now live

April 2017: YouTube Go beta launches in India

May 2017: Youtube gets a new look and feel

June 2017: YouTube helps form Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

August 2017: Now you can chat about videos on YouTube

November 2017: YouTube toughens rules to protect families

February 2018: YouTube Go expands to 130 countries

April 2018: YouTube shares updates on Community Guidelines

May 2018: Introducing YouTube Premium

June 2018: YouTube helps creators make money

June 2018: YouTube Music and YouTube Premium launch in 17 countries

August 2018: Launching tools for digital well-being

November 2018: YouTube launches student plans for Music and Premium

November 2018: YouTube rolls out Stories feature to more creators

December 2018: YouTube Music now offers YouTube Charts

January 2019: YouTube Music comes to Sonos

April 2019: Enjoy YouTube Music free on Google Home speakers

July 2019: Now switch between audio and music videos seamlessly

August 2019: YouTube Music comes to Waze

November 2019: Introducing Super Stickers for creators

November 2019: Video thumbnails to become bigger

December 2019: YouTube Music gets personal with playlist