Keep visitors engaged with video on YouTube

30% of U.S. adults regularly get news from YouTube - giving you an opportunity to connect with audiences on YouTube.

This Lesson covers:

• Where does news appear on YouTube?
• How do I upload videos to YouTube?
• What news videos perform best?
• How do I make money on YouTube?

News appears on YouTube’s homepage and YouTube Search.

YouTube homepage features

• Breaking News: Shows significant news events
• Developing News: Provides context on significant news events, including text-based snippets from a news article.
• Top News: Appears on the homepage if a viewer regularly watches news content

YouTube Search features

• Top News: Helps audiences proactively looking for news by connecting them with authoritative sources

Get started

1. Create a YouTube channel
2. Upload a video file
3. Add descriptive details to help people find your video

💡Best practices

• Keep your channel homepage fresh and relevant
• Create a trailer about your news organization and your videos
• Use playlists
• Ask viewers to subscribe to your channel

YouTube’s algorithm recommends videos to viewers based on what they’re most likely to watch, such as past viewing behavior.

💡Best practices

• Write a clear, accurate, succinct title
• Use a high resolution thumbnail image
• Add your logo onto a thumbnail, but avoid using just your logo as the image.
• Start your description with two lines that pull the viewer in

Explainer Videos

• Simplifies and explains a particular topic to the viewer
• Concise and straight to-the-point
• Uses attention-catching, easy-to-follow visuals

Analysis Videos

• Provides background and places a single news event in the context of broader trends
• Helps the viewer understand news events in-depth

Roundup

• Summarizes the week’s headlines
• Compact and bite-size
• Watched on-the-go

Shorts

Connect with a new audience using just a smartphone and the Shorts camera in the YouTube app.

• Videos are under 60 seconds
• Personal and engaging

Podcasts

Expand your reach, build your community, and monetize! YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for podcasts, with a global audience of over 2 billion people.

• Upload full episodes
• Use playlists to organize episodes chronologically or by topic

Live coverage

Build rapport and bring viewers together to learn, discuss, and follow along in real-time. Live coverage can include:

• Breaking news
• Interviews
• Special-events coverage

💡Best practice: Upload both the full versions and the clips from important interviews

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) gives creators greater access to YouTube resources and monetization features.

To be eligible

• Have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours in the previous 12 months
• Have an AdSense account

Make money from advertisers with

• Ads
• YouTube BrandConnect

Make money from your viewers with

• Channel Memberships
• Super Thanks
• YouTube Shopping

Ads

Get ad revenue from display, overlay, and video ads.

What kinds of ads does YouTube sell?

• Video: Skippable and non-skippable video ads
• Display: Display ads alongside the video player
• Overlay: In-video text ads across the video player

YouTube BrandConnect

Match with advertisers and develop branded content that’s both authentic and effective. Since the launch of YouTube BrandConnect, deal sizes have grown over 260% on average.

To be eligible

• Have at least 25,000 subscribers

💡Best practices

• Check your page for copyright and ad suitability
• Enable all ad formats

Channel Memberships

Allow viewers to become exclusive members through monthly payments

• Offer members-only perks like badges, emojis, access to special community posts
• Receive 70% of revenue after taxes and fees

Super Thanks

Receive payments from fans as a sign of gratitude for the videos you produce

• Fans can contribute $2, $5, $10 or $50 per video and share a comment
• Receive 70% of revenue generated

YouTube Shopping

Set up and connect your store to YouTube, and feature your own products, like merchandise

• Have at least 1,000 subscribers

💡Best practices

• Make your audience feel part of your community by asking for feedback
• Respond to comments
• Ask your audience for suggestions for future videos