YouTube promises to help creators make more money. Here are the details

(Image: Google/YouTube)

YouTube's new chief executive officer Neal Mohan has in a letter to creators said the video platform will put them at the core of its plans and help them find more ways to earn, as he also revealed a plan to introduce generative AI tools.

A longtime chief product officer with YouTube, Mohan takes over from Susan Wojicicki, who held the position for nearly a decade.

In his comprehensive letter, addressed to the YouTube community as well as creators, Mohan spelled out his plans for the company.

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New ways to earn for creators

Mohan wrote that YouTube supported more than 2 million full time creators in 2021 across the globe.

He said that the company would continue investing in shopping options, while expanding subscriptions and improving digital paid offerings.

According to the post, more than six million viewers paid for channel memberships in December 2022, which was an increase of 20 percent from the year-ago period.

In 2022, YouTube also doubled the number of creators and partners on the platform, and more than half of them were outside the United States.

Mohan said that YouTube was committed to offering even more tools for creators to make money.

Growing creators across all formats

YouTube Shorts, the Tik-Tok like short-form video hosting service that prioritises 60-second vertical videos, has now collectively earned over 5 trillion views since being made available in 2021.

Mohan wrote that YouTube Shorts was now averaging 50 billion views daily, and in 2022, the number of channels uploading content for Shorts grew by 80 percent.

One area creators were showing a strong interest was podcasting and YouTube was now the second most popular destination for podcasts, he said.

The company would start rolling out both "audio and video-first podcasts" to YouTube Music in the United States, with more regions to follow.

Later in the year, YouTube will start offering RSS integrations for podcasts. RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a web feed format that allows users to access updates and other information in one area.

This will make it simpler for subscribers to follow creators and stay up to date with their content.

There will be a new creation tool will allow creators to record Shorts and normal videos in side-by-side layouts, so that they can record reactions to popular videos.

Also Read | YouTube introduces multi-language audio for creators

Generative AI tools for creators

While he didn't specify what the new AI-based tools would be, Mohan said the company would introduce generative AI tools that would make it possible for creators "to expand their storytelling and raise their production value, from virtually swapping outfits to creating a fantastical film setting through AI’s generative capabilities".

Mohan did not share a release date for the tools but said that YouTube was taking its time to develop the features, keeping in mind, "the protections to embrace this technology responsibly".

"AI presents incredible creative opportunities, but must be balanced by responsible stewardship," wrote Mohan.