Why Flagging Matters

YouTube allows people anywhere to share their stories with the world. They share their sense of humor, their talents, their opinions, what's happening around them and within them. YouTube is also a community, and over the years, people have used the flagging feature located beneath every video and comment to help report content they believe violates our Community Guidelines.

We want to empower you, the YouTube community, to better understand how flagging works and how you can get involved in maintaining our community guidelines. To shed some light on how your flagging activity has helped keep YouTube a platform where openness and creative expression are balanced with responsibility, here are some of the latest data:

• Over 90 million people have flagged videos on YouTube since 2006 - that's more than the population of Egypt - and over a third of these people have flagged more than one video.
• As YouTube grows, the community continues to be very active in flagging content: the number of flags per day is up over 25 percent year-on-year.
• Community flagging on YouTube is international: People from 196 countries have flagged a video. The five countries with the most accurate flagging rates are: Indonesia, Turkey, Germany, Ukraine and France.
• We're also continuing to strengthen our policy enforcement processes: In 2015 alone, we removed 92 million videos for violation of our policies through a mix of user flagging and our spam-detection technology. While we are vigilant and fast in removing terrorist content and hate speech, it's worth noting that it actually represents a very small proportion of the content that violates our guidelines - those two violations account for only 1 percent of the videos removed in 2015.

When flagging, you can report which policy you think a video violates, from spam and sexual content to harassment and violent content. This helps us route and review flagged content more efficiently and effectively:

We have trained teams, fluent in multiple languages, who carefully evaluate your flags 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year in time zones around the world. They remove content that violates our terms, age-restrict content that may not be appropriate for all audiences, and are careful to leave content up if it hasn't crossed the line. As YouTube grows, we continue to scale our policy enforcement resources to meet your needs as a community.

Flagged content, however, doesn't automatically get removed. YouTube is an important global platform for information and news, and our teams evaluate videos before taking action in order to protect content that has an educational, documentary, scientific or artistic purpose.

We also take into account local laws in the countries where we operate and if we receive a valid legal notice that content violates a local law, we will restrict that content in the local country domain. You can find information about government removal requests in Google's Transparency Report. Similarly, if we remove content for policy reasons after receiving a valid legal request, we will include that in our transparency reporting.

We want to encourage you to continue flagging and we hope this additional transparency will help you continue reporting responsibly. For more information about how these processes work, visit our Policy and Safety Hub.

Posted by Juniper Downs, Head of YouTube Public Policy, who recently watched “Leon Bridges' NPR Tiny Desk Concert.”

#AskJuncker: YouTube creators to interview the European Commission President

Cross-posted from Google Europe Blog

This Wednesday, President Juncker will deliver his State of the Union address at the European Parliament. The next morning, the European Commission - along with partners Debating Europe and Euronews - will turn to YouTube to field questions about the issues that matter most to people across Europe.

YouTube Creators Jonas Ems, Laetitia Birbes, and Łukasz Jakóbiak will travel to Brussels from their homes in Germany, France and Poland to meet with President Juncker at the Commission's headquarters at the Berlaymont. While Euronews has hosted live Hangouts on Air with European Commissioners in the past, this is the first time that YouTube Creators will have the opportunity to conduct a full interview with the President.

Nineteen-year-old Jonas is already a veteran YouTuber - not only has he built up a large following for his commentaries and comedy, he's also published a book about his experiences. Laetitia focuses on sharing her values, like ecology and recycling, and she recently participated in YouTube's Toi-Même Tu Filmes initiative, aimed at fighting hate speech. Łukasz, who conducts interviews from his tiny Warsaw apartment, explained in an inspirational TedX talk last year how he went from dreamer to doer (and how he got to meet Lady Gaga along the way).

It's up to Laetitia, Jonas, and Łukasz to choose the questions: They'll focus on the issues that are top of mind for them and their fans. If you want to weigh in, they'll be looking at suggestions on social media with the hashtag #AskJuncker.

You can watch the whole thing on the European Commission YouTube channel - the live stream will begin at 11 am CET, and the recording will be available afterward.

Posted by Mark Jansen, Senior Communications Manager at Google Brussels

Rio 2016 celebrations on YouTube

The Olympic Games Rio 2016 have yet to commence, but for sports fans the world over, the excitement is already well underway. In the last 12 months, over 23,000 years of content have been watched on YouTube for the four most popular Olympic Games' sports alone - athletics, gymnastics, diving and swimming, and volleyball. To put this in perspective, that's the equivalent of watching all 17 days of the Olympic Games, 24 hours a day, not once, but over half a million times. Nearly two thirds of that viewership has happened on mobile devices -- and even more in countries like the U.S., U.K. and Japan.

As the miles continue to rack up on the Olympic torch, viewership on YouTube continues to rack up as well. To help make that viewership experience even richer, we have partnered with broadcasters in more than 60 countries, including the BBC (U.K.), America Movil (Latin America excluding Brazil), NHK (Japan) and many others. These partners will bring official highlights from the Games on YouTube to make sure you can keep up with the most breath-taking moments. We will also link these official broadcasters' highlights directly into Google Search and YouTube Watch Cards for Rio 2016.

And if you want to experience Rio and the environment surrounding the Games through the eyes of some of your favorite creators, 15 of them will be on the ground bringing you the best of Rio. Creators such as Liza Koshy, Brodie Smith, Ben Brown, Caeli, Chloe Morello, and Felipe Castanhari will provide an on-the scene view of the celebrations in Rio, everything from their own commentary of the Games' celebrations, from the first victory to the last defeat, to long days around Rio on bike rides and aerial tours. These creators will take advantage of our brand new mobile live streaming feature to share real-time moments from Brazil as they unfold, as well as 360-degree videos that will make fans feel like they are on the streets of Copacabana.

 

But it's not just creators and broadcasters getting into the action. Brands are already uploading ads celebrating the athletes, culture, and passion around the Olympic Games–and viewers are taking notice. From April 2016 through June 2016, ads from Worldwide and National Olympic Partners have already received the equivalent of over 400 years worth of watch time. Here's a look at a few of the top ads so far: “Always #LikeAGirl - Keep Playing,” Minute Maid's "#doinggood | See What U.S. Olympian Missy Franklin Has To Say," Samsung's “The Chant,” P&G's “Thank You, Mom - Strong,” and Visa's “The Carpool To Rio.”

From epic wins to all-star performances, YouTube will bring you the best from Rio, before, during and after the Games through official broadcaster channels and celebration via content creators.

Christoph Heimes, Head of News and Sports Partnerships, EMEA, recently watched “Gillette: Perfect Isn't Pretty.”

Celebrating the inspiring voices who are #ProudToBe

Over the past 11 years, people around the world have turned to online video as a rich medium to help explore, share, and celebrate who they are. It makes us incredibly proud that over these years, YouTube has also become a platform where the LGBTQ community can express themselves, start new conversations, and create solidarity around the globe.

From commemorating Pride parades to opening up about transitions and explaining the ABCs of LGBT, YouTube is a place where anyone can belong no matter who they are or who they love. That is why today we want to help people honor and celebrate who they're #ProudToBe:


Now, more than ever, it's important that we help accept, love, and celebrate one another. In the wake of the tragic events in Orlando, we stand together in support of the LGBTQ community. We stand together with everyone who has the courage to own and share their identity. We stand together to show the power of solidarity, the power of love, the power of pride. To those beautiful and brave voices who continue to make YouTube the vibrant, diverse and empathetic community it is, we are #ProudToBe with you.

The YouTube Team recently watched “LoveExists / We are #OrlandoUnited.”

Introducing YouTube Director: A suite of video ad creation products for businesses

Whether it's for entertainment, indulging a passion, or discovering something new, more people are turning to YouTube to watch video. In fact, growth in watch time on YouTube is up at least 50 percent year-over-year.¹ Now, more than ever, businesses can connect with their customers through video advertising on YouTube.

But we know that creating a video ad can be challenging. To make it easier for every business- from a dog walker to a barber shop owner-to get started with advertising on YouTube, we're launching the YouTube Director suite of products. Three products that make video ads more accessible to businesses.

Make a video ad right from your phone

With the free YouTube Director for business app (available for iPhone today in the U.S. and Canada) anyone can create a video ad for their business quickly and easily-right from their phone. No editing experience required. People like Woody Lovell Jr., owner of the The Barber Shop Club in Los Angeles, are already seeing positive results with YouTube Director.

Woody shot and edited a video ad by himself, uploaded it to YouTube, and worked with an AdWords expert to run a campaign. As a result, Woody's business saw a significant increase in potential customers being able to remember and recognize his ad.²

We challenged five business owners-including Woody-to create a video ad in 20 minutes or less. Watch what happened and download the app to give it a try.



Get a professional to make your video ad

In select U.S. cities, we're also offering YouTube Director onsite, a service that sends a professional filmmaker to shoot and edit a video ad for free whenever a business spends at least $150 to advertise on YouTube. YouTube Director onsite is available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C.-and coming to more cities soon.

Is your business an app? We can create a video ad for you too

YouTube Director automated video creates a video ad automatically from existing assets like logos and app screenshots in the App Store or Google Play Store, and is available globally. Reach out to a Google expert (1-855-500-2756) for more information.

No matter what kind of business you're in, getting started with advertising on YouTube just became a whole lot easier. We can't wait to see what you make. Happy filming.

Max Goldman, Product Manager, YouTube Director, recently watched "YouTube Director Video Challenge."


¹ Google Data, 2016

² Woody's YouTube Director video ad for The Barber Shop Club drove a 73 percent increase in ad recall among target customers on YouTube, and a 56 percent lift in brand awareness (AdWords Brand Lift Study, June 2016)

YouTube creators meet Pope Francis to discuss promoting understanding and empathy

YouTube has helped millions of people see that we have a lot in common, despite our differences. Building these bridges can start with a simple conversation, and over the past 11 years, we've seen YouTube creators use the power of video to do just that. From Hayla Ghazal encouraging women in the Middle East and around the world to speak up, to Dulce Candy sharing her own story as an undocumented immigrant and military veteran, creators from around the world have used our platform to express themselves, encourage new perspectives, and inspire solidarity within global fan bases.

We want to continue empowering people to come to YouTube to tell stories and form connections that encourage empathy and understanding between diverse communities.

That's why today 11 international YouTube creators met with Pope Francis, who cares deeply about bringing young people together. This first-of-its-kind dialogue took place during the VI Scholas World Congress, which the Pope created to encourage peace through real encounters with youth from different backgrounds.

The YouTube creators who participated in this conversation represent more than 27 million subscribers globally. They come from ten different countries and diverse religious backgrounds: Louise Pentland (United Kingdom), Lucas Castel (Argentina), Matemática Río (Brazil), Hayla Ghazal (United Arab Emirates), Dulce Candy (United States), Matthew Patrick (United States), Jamie and Nikki (Australia and Sudan/Egypt), Greta Menchi (Italy), Los Polinesios (Mexico) and anna RF (Israel).

During the conversation with the Pope, these creators raised topics that they are passionate about as role models, including immigrant rights, gender equality, loneliness and self-esteem, and greater respect for diversity of all kinds.

We're inspired by the many conversations these creators have sparked throughout their YouTube journeys. To hear more about what they discussed at the Vatican today, tune in to each of their channels for personal videos in the coming weeks. We hope to continue helping people share their stories - the more we can all understand, the more we can come together as a global community.

Juniper Downs, Head of Policy for YouTube, recently watched “I am a Muslim, hug me if you trust me.”

YouTube brings E3 to you wherever you are

Last year, millions of gamers came together on YouTube for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). We watched as Bethesda unveiled “Fallout 4,” and many of us had our prayers answered when Square Enix shared a first look at the “Final Fantasy VII” remake. For more than a few gamers, E3 is the must-see gaming event of the year, an annual moment that defines the industry (and our collective wallets) for the coming 12 months.

YouTube will give gamers around the world front-row access to everything E3 again this year with dozens of live streams scheduled throughout the week. To make moments like this even better, we are launching event pages in YouTube Gaming, which serve as destinations for watching the biggest gaming and eSports events. Kicking things off, we'll have a unique event hub for E3, available at gaming.youtube.com/e3 in June.

A home for live streams and on-demand videos, the YouTube Gaming E3 hub will put all our E3 coverage in one place. You'll be able to browse videos and streams, chat live with fellow gamers, vote for your favorite trailers in the legendary Trailer Battle, and catch up on announcements you might have missed.

Coverage begins on Sunday, June 12, with early press conferences from EA and Bethesda. Stay tuned on YouTube after the press conferences because you won't want to miss post-coverage from our friends at Rooster Teeth - who will be streaming from the conference throughout the week.

The play-by-play coverage continues on Monday, June 13 at 9 a.m. PT, with YouTube Live at E3, an exclusive 12-hour stream hosted by Geoff Keighley and brought to you by Samsung. Live at E3 will bring you the live coverage of press conferences you crave along with developer interviews, live let's plays of new games you won't find anywhere else, and surprise guests like MatPat, iHasCupquake and CaptainSparklez.


Speaking about MatPat, if you're in L.A. before E3, make sure to stop by the YouTube Space LA for a fan event on June 8 and a peek at MatPat's Game Lab. RSVP here.

See you at E3!

Ryan Wyatt, Global Head of Gaming Content, recently watched “Game Lab: TEST Games In Real Life then EXPERIENCE them in VR!”