Publication date: 20 April 2020
YouTube’s monthly audience has crossed the 2 billion user mark amid the global coronavirus pandemic. News viewership soared 75% in recent weeks from the same time last year.
About analytics and services
YouTube is expanding its analytics capabilities by showing content creators when their audience is most likely to be online (which hours during the week a channel’s audience is most active). This data can help content creators schedule posts in a more effective way.
Google has launched a new beta tool—YouTube Video Builder—to help businesses create short, promotional videos for YouTube. The tool is available to businesses of all sizes for free. YouTube Video Builder animates static assets—images, text, and logos—with music from Google’s royalty-free library. During the video creation process, you can choose from a variety of layouts based on your message and goals, customize colors and fonts, and quickly generate a short 6- or 15-second video.
About competition
Facebook is launching a new streaming app, an alternative to YouTube and Twitch. The launch was originally scheduled for June 2020, but the current situation around the world, when people are stuck at home during the pandemic, has lead to an increase in demand for such services. Starting from 20 April, the app is available on Android devices; a corresponding iOS version is set to follow once “Apple approves them.”
YouTube is working on Shorts, its answer to TikTok, as a feature inside its existing mobile app. Shorts will include a feed of brief videos posted by users inside the app. Users will be able to choose a background soundtrack for their videos from YouTube’s catalog of licensed music. YouTube reportedly plans to launch Shorts by the end of 2020.
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