YouTube CPO outlines tools, features & priorities for 2022

YouTube has launched new features and tools that will be rolling out in 2022; the updates shared are based on discussion, data, and feedback from the YouTube community.

Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, YouTube shares the new products, tools, and features for creators, designed to improve the core video-viewing experience and the infrastructure that supports it.

YouTube will continue to invest across multiple formats: Shorts, Live, and video on demand (VOD). In the months ahead, bring more engagement and monetization options across all three formats for creators.

YouTube Shorts have now garnered over 5T all-time views. Creators and artists of all stripes - from Jake Fellman and Lisa Nguyen to BTS and Marina Sena - have experienced the potential of Shorts to connect with fans around the world. In 2022, YouTube will continue to improve the product and make it easier to create videos.

Building on a feature introduced last year that lets you remix audio from videos across the platform, YouTube will also introduce new capabilities that empower creators to express themselves even more - new video effects, editing tools, and more. To help Shorts creators engage with their audience more personally, the platform will also introduce the ability to reply to individual comments by creating a Short.

In the coming months, YouTube will start to test other ways to make money on Shorts — like exploring new ways for Shorts creators to build branded content through BrandConnect, integrating fan-funded features like Super Chat into Shorts, and bringing the ability to shop directly from a Short.

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Live is another area that will see progress this year to build on momentum — daily live watch time more than tripled between January 2020 and December 2021. The platform will introduce collaborative live streaming, which allows creators to go live together and create more interactive streams for their audiences.

Features like Super Chat and Channel Memberships have helped a new generation of Live creators participate in the creator economy, and this year, YouTube plans to expand this. The platform has started testing gifted memberships — the ability to purchase a channel membership for another viewer in the live stream — to a small group of channels.

For all videos viewed on YouTube, the company wants to allow for more thoughtful engagement. One area of focus has been improving comments so that they feel more helpful for creators and viewers alike. For example, testing out the ability for creators to set channel guidelines so they can better shape the tone of conversations on their channel.

Viewers will have the option to sort comments timed to the exact moment they’re watching in a video — giving valuable context to comments as they read them.

The struggle of generating new content ideas or having a tough time figuring out which ideas will be successful is real for creators. To address this need, YouTube will be introducing new insights in YouTube Studio that empower smarter creation. The tool will harness YouTube and Google’s data sets and allow creators to better understand viewer demand, helping generate content ideas for upcoming videos.

Web 3.0 also opens up new opportunities for creators. YouTube believes new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans. Together, they’ll be able to collaborate on new projects and make money in ways not previously possible. For example, giving a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators could be a prospect for creators and their audiences.