YouTube pays $30 billion for content
Google subsidiary YouTube has paid out more than $30 billion to content creators over the past three years. The video platform saw particularly high profits in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the amount of time users spent watching YouTube in the first quarter alone increased by 25 percent compared to the same period the previous year. Streaming also saw strong growth.
"YouTube's triumph may be limited in time. After the Corona pandemic, screen time could decrease again. Success with content during this time depends on the target group. Younger users primarily want to belong to a community; they can be won over as very loyal viewers, which is also rewarded by the algorithm. Older users are especially looking for specific content that is useful to them, which is why search engine optimization is important here," YouTube marketing consultant Julian Banse explains to the news portal Press release.
The video game streaming platform YouTube Gaming has experienced particularly strong growth. Overall, users spent more than 100 billion hours streaming gaming. In general, streaming grew 45 percent in the first half of the year. During the Corona period, more than half a million channels offered such content for the first time. As a result, more than ten million new streams have been created.
More transparency in guidelines
According to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, the platform wants to offer more transparency regarding its policies in the future. YouTube took a lot of criticism in 2020 for lack of clarity regarding bans and demonetization. The rules regarding the dissemination of misinformation were also not always understandable. Especially on the topic of vaccinations, YouTube wants to crack down harder on fake news. (pte)
