Latest news with #JohannaVoolich
Miami Herald
04-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
YouTube launches shorts creation tools ahead of possible TikTok ban
YouTube on Thursday announced new video creation tools for short videos ahead of a pending deadline for TikTok owner ByteDance to sell it or be banned from the United States. ByteDance has until Saturday to sell its U.S. operations to an American buyer or be banned from the country, which would cause many TikTok users to lose their accounts and existing content. YouTube's Shorts video feed competes with TikTok's short-form video format, and the new creation tools that are to be made available before summer make it easier for users to edit their content and track its performance, CNBC reported. Among the chief changes is how YouTube tracks view counts. 'What we are doing is going from when a short was played for a few seconds to when a viewer's seen it at all as to how we counted views in Shorts,' YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich said in an interview posted on YouTube. She said the change is based on feedback from content creators and helps them better understand when their shorts have been viewed and is especially helpful for creators who post content on multiple platforms. Creators also will benefit from new editing tools that improve upon what Voolich called a 'pretty basic editor' for video shorts. 'You import a bunch of things from your gallery and then, in flow, we're going to let you time that to music from our very wide music library,' she said. The new video editor allows creators to pinch and zoom their videos to 'really make it your own,' Voolich said. YouTube also is providing content creators with templates for short videos. Instead of the current practice of uploading content one at a time from a camera, creators will be able to use a template to upload all of their content at once. More camera roll integration also enables creators to make stickers from their camera rolls to use in the video background and for other purposes. Shorts also have gone to three minutes, which Voolich says support deeper narratives and expands the variety of content available on the Shorts platform. In the two years since YouTube added its Shorts platform to its monetization program, it has been growing. 'Shorts is just such a rich area with so many features and so much variety of videos,' Voolich said. Among recent innovations she cited is enabling creators to use generative AI to create entire videos or just make stickers to use in their videos. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
YouTube's Premium Lite Plan Arrives in the US. Here's What You Get
YouTube's Premium Lite pilot program is expanding to the U.S. nearly four years after the Google-owned streamer began testing the pilot service in Europe. With this rollout, YouTube says it is testing out the option for US users after offering Premium Lite in Germany, Thailand and Australia. "Premium Lite gives viewers a new, more affordable way to enjoy most videos on YouTube ad-free for $7.99 per month," YouTube's official blog site states. The more expensive tier, YouTube Premium, costs nearly twice that amount at $13.99 monthly and gives ad-free access to video content and YouTube Music. So what do you get with Premium Lite? Simply put, the service tier gives you access to all sorts of creator-made content, from cooking, gaming and fashion to makeup editorials and educational videos all without ads. Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich revealed in an episode of Creator Insider's Release Notes that this is precisely what a large portion of YouTube's user base wants. "When we talked to our users, what we found is there are a whole swath of people who want an ad-free, uninterrupted streaming service but they don't necessarily want a music service." So, yes, YouTube Music and premium features like background playback and the ability to download titles for offline viewing are not included with Premium Lite. If you want to stream music, podcasts and audiobooks, stick with Spotify -- this isn't a replacement for that sort of entertainment. However, for YouTube viewers who wish to enjoy watching videos without advertisers regularly interrupting them, this plan may be right for you. For more details about Premium Lite, head over to the plan's page.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
YouTube's new Premium Lite offers ad-free viewing on most videos for $8 per month
YouTube has introduced a new subscription option for viewing with reduced ads compared with its pricey but ad-free Premium plans. This Premium Lite plan is rolling out in the US starting today. It costs $8 per month, compared with $14 per month for Premium. All users in YouTube's pilot markets of Australia, Germany and Thailand will gain access to Premium Lite in the coming weeks. Most videos will be available without ads under this subscription, such as podcasts, gaming, fashion, beauty and news content. But the company is treating music content differently since its YouTube Music service is baked into the full YouTube Premium offering. There will still be ads on music and music videos, as well as on Shorts. "When we talk to our users what we found is there's a whole swath of people who want an ad-free, uninterrupted streaming service but they don't necessarily want a music service. That's where we got the idea of Premium Lite," YouTube's chief product officer, Johanna Voolich, said in a video regarding the news. "It's really cool because it allows us to give these kinds of viewers more choice, but it also unlocks a new revenue stream for our creators." See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. You'll likely see ads as you browse and search YouTube as well. Downloads and background play, two other key features of the Premium plan, won't be available to Premium Lite subscribers. YouTube began testing a lower-cost subscription plan in several markets in October 2024. Similarly, during that trial, the company offered users most content without advertisements, although it did show "video ads on music content and Shorts, and non-interruptive ads when you search and browse." The platform is still treating Premium Lite as a pilot. YouTube plans to expand the tier to more countries later this year. It will also "introduce more ways for our users to get the most from their subscriptions."
