YouTube Updates: Shorts Editing Tools, Mid-Roll Ads Changes, and More - Social Media Marketing Talk Show

Summary

Social Media Marketing Talk Show: YouTube Updates - Shorts Editing Tools, Mid-Roll Ads Changes, and More

Hosted by Jerry Potter, Social Media Examiner

Release Date: April 28, 2025

In the latest episode of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, host Jerry Potter delves into a plethora of YouTube updates that are poised to impact content creators and marketers alike. This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and implications of these changes, providing valuable information even for those who haven't tuned into the episode.

1. YouTube Analytics Overhaul

Jerry begins by addressing significant changes to YouTube's analytics platform, which are particularly crucial for marketers handling client reports.

Engaged Views Redefined: Previously, YouTube disclosed that a view was counted after 30 seconds of watching a long-form video. However, for Shorts, the criteria were ambiguous. Now, YouTube states that a view is counted "even if it's zoomed zero seconds" ([04:20]). Jerry critiques this metric shift, suggesting it arguably aligns more with impressions rather than genuine views.

"Now technically it seems like that should be called impressions." ([05:10] Jerry Potter)
Metric Accessibility: The more meaningful metric, engaged views, has been relegated to the advanced analytics section, making it less accessible for everyday analysis.

"So just be aware of it." ([06:15] Jerry Potter)

Jerry shares his personal experience, noting that for one of his Shorts, there were 350 views but 200 engaged views ([07:45]). He plans to interpret the standard view counts as impressions moving forward to better gauge engagement.

2. Enhanced YouTube Shorts Creation Tools

YouTube has introduced a suite of new tools aimed at refining the creation of Shorts, enhancing both precision and creativity.

Improved Video Editor: The updated editor allows for precise adjustments to clip timing, rearranging or deleting clips, adding music, and overlaying text.

"It's getting better and better at this, which is really, really cool." ([11:30] Jerry Potter)
Advanced Templates: Users can now incorporate photos from their galleries into templates, enabling consistent branding and streamlined workflows. Additionally, these templates can sync seamlessly with music, saving time for marketers.
Image and AI Stickers: Upcoming features include the ability to add image stickers from galleries and AI-generated stickers through text prompts, offering unique customization options.
AI-Generated Music and Syncing: Creators can generate custom, copyright-free instrumental music tailored to their Shorts, enhancing audio-visual harmony. YouTube is also experimenting with automated syncing of imported content to music beats, facilitating high-production-value videos with minimal effort.

3. Subscriber Notifications Experiment

YouTube is testing an improved notification experience for subscribers who have enabled all notifications. This aims to ensure that engaged users receive updates without being overwhelmed.

Enhanced Notification Mechanism: Subscribers can opt to receive notifications via phone alerts and emails each time a new video is released.

"They theoretically then will get notified in whatever ways they get notified." ([13:00] Jerry Potter)
Engagement-Based Adjustments: If subscribers become inactive, YouTube may temporarily halt notifications to prevent clutter. However, active subscribers will continue receiving notifications as usual.

"If somebody doesn't engage with your channel... they'll temporarily stop receiving those notifications." ([14:10] Jerry Potter)
Frequency of Uploads: With the rise of Shorts and AI-driven content creation, channels may increase their upload frequency, making effective notification strategies even more vital.

4. Mid-Roll Ads Modifications

Starting in May 2025, YouTube is revising how mid-roll ads are implemented in monetized channels.

Automatic Ad Slot Placement: YouTube will automatically add mid-roll ad slots to existing videos, even those with manually placed ads. This change reflects the increased length and consumption of content on the platform.

"They are going to automatically add automatic ad slots to existing videos." ([15:30] Jerry Potter)
Performance Tracking: Creators can review which ad slots are performing well and choose to opt into automatic mid-roll selection based on their top-performing content.
Opt-Out Option: Channels can opt out of automatic mid-roll placements by accessing the Earn tab in YouTube Studio before May 12th.

5. Dynamic Ad Insertion for Podcasts

YouTube is expanding its monetization features to better support podcasters through dynamic ad insertion.

Dynamic Host Read Ads: This feature allows podcasters to insert or update ads dynamically across all episodes, making promotions timely and relevant.

"One of the things that has been amazing about podcasts... is dynamic audio insertion." ([16:50] Jerry Potter)
Timely Promotions: Creators can promote events, product launches, or other timely content without permanently embedding ads into their episodes.
Potential Expansion: While currently tailored for podcasts, there's speculation that similar dynamic ad features might extend to regular YouTube videos in the future, offering significant marketing advantages.

6. AI-Driven Tools for Content Creation

YouTube is not only integrating third-party AI tools but also developing its proprietary AI features to aid creators.

Brainstorm from Anywhere: This tool leverages comments and data from a creator's past videos to generate new video ideas within YouTube Studio.
Hooks Suggestions: AI-powered suggestions help creators craft compelling hook statements to capture viewer attention from the outset.
Quick Saves: Creators can store ideas directly from AI-generated lists, streamlining the content ideation process.

"AI is going to help you come up with ideas based on the actual data that YouTube has." ([17:40] Jerry Potter)

These tools harness YouTube's internal data to provide actionable insights, enhancing content strategy without relying solely on external platforms.

7. End Screens Functionality Update

YouTube is experimenting with allowing viewers to hide end screens, which can impact how creators design these segments.

Hide Option for Viewers: A new feature enables viewers to conceal end screens if they find them intrusive or obstructive to viewing experience.

"There is just a show button that will appear and it the top right of the video, and they can just tap that and it will all come back." ([17:15] Jerry Potter)
Best Practices for Creators: Marketers are advised to strategically place end screen elements to avoid covering essential content, ensuring that key information remains visible even if viewers choose to hide the entire end screen.

8. YouTube Protections and AI Safeguards

In response to growing concerns about AI-generated content, YouTube is enhancing its privacy and protection measures.

Synthetic Content Removal: Updated privacy processes now allow for the removal of content that simulates an individual's likeness without consent.

"They are introducing new management tools to help people control how AI depicts them on the platform." ([18:00] Jerry Potter)
Celebrity and Influencer Tools: Influential figures like celebrities and politicians receive access to tools that monitor and manage AI-generated content that might misuse their likeness.
Creator Participation: Some creators are invited to contribute to AI protection tools by submitting video selfies, aiding in the development of detection mechanisms for AI-fabricated content.

"They uploaded a selfie or the celebrity, whoever would upload a selfie and that way you would compare the video selfie to the AI generated one." ([18:35] Jerry Potter)
Best Practices Reminder: Jerry emphasizes the importance of routinely checking video settings to flag any AI or synthetic content, advocating for proactive measures to comply with YouTube’s evolving policies.

9. Additional Updates

Mail-Free PIN Verification: For channels nearing monetization, YouTube now offers a mail-free PIN verification option in 24 markets, streamlining the registration process and moving away from traditional postcard methods.

Conclusion

The episode encapsulates a series of strategic updates from YouTube that collectively aim to enhance the creator experience, bolster monetization strategies, and address the challenges posed by AI-generated content. Jerry Potter underscores the importance of adapting to these changes promptly to maintain a competitive edge in the dynamic landscape of social media marketing.

Note: For marketers and content creators, staying informed about these updates is crucial. Leveraging YouTube's enhanced tools and adhering to new policies will be instrumental in optimizing content strategy and maximizing engagement.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Are you having a hard time keeping up with all the AI tools that are out there? Do you want to increase your productivity and enhance your creativity? If so, check out our free masterclass 25/AI tools that will change how you create content forever. You'll discover time saving AI tools that will make you a more valued marketer. Don't miss this Live training taking place Thursday, May 1st. Register@Social Media Examiner.com aitools right now.

B (0:36)

Welcome to the Social Media Marketing Talk show, your guide to the ever changing world of social media. On today's show we're going to explore some awesome YouTube updates that I think you're going to be excited about. First, a big change to analytics which will definitely affect things, especially if you're doing reporting for clients. So we'll get you filled in on that. Also, big upgrades with what you can do when creating YouTube shorts and an amazing update if your brand has a podcast on YouTube, among other things. We have a lot to cover today, so let's jump in. My name is Jerry Potter, host of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a Social Media examiner production. We break down all the latest social media news and what it means for marketers like you. So the big update in the last week or so here has been all around YouTube shorts and the way that they're counting views. So previously YouTube had said we're not going to fully disclose how we count views, but somebody has to watch a certain amount or a certain percentage. I remember there was a story we talked about here. There's no like definitive thing they've said. On long form videos, 30 seconds counts as a view, but on shorts it's kind of all over the place. Well now they are saying that it will count as a view even if it's zoomed zero seconds, theoretically. So essentially if the short comes up on the screen, they are now calling it a view. Now technically it seems like that should be called impressions. When we think about long form videos on YouTube and how many times that thumbnail shows up and then we're hoping somebody will click on it. That's essentially what it is. Now the existing metric, which was based on someone actually watching at least a little bit of the video, is going to be renamed engaged views so you'll be able to see either of those. But for some reason they've moved the engaged views, which I would think was the more important metric, into the advanced analytics. You know, so a lot of places in YouTube analytics you can click see more. And it's in that other section there where you Know where the super data geeks that I turn into sometimes like to go and look at stuff. So I don't know exactly why they're doing that, but just be aware of it. And just before we came on, I decided to just go and look and see. I have a short that I just put up and it had 350 views and 200 engaged views. So a little more than half of the views were actually engaged, which means they were actually views. So going forward, what I'm going to do is just look at them as impressions essentially and then see how they all kind of go from there. Okay, so just be aware of that. Also with YouTube shorts we have a lot of new creation tools. So this is interesting to see all these updates that they're making because technically I feel like if somebody really wants to get more precision with their shorts, they're going to do it in a different video editing program. But YouTube is building them in, which is nice. So first of all, new and improved video editor is making it much easier for us to make precise adjustments to clip timing or rearrange or delete clips, add music or time text, you know, different things like that. Also, templates are being enhanced to allow users to incorporate photos from their gallery. So I think theoretically, if you had product images that you had in your gallery that you wanted to use over and over again. Plus with these templates, if it's the way it is on some of the other short form video platforms, you can literally suck them in and it'll sync it up to music and looks really, really nice. So obviously as marketers we love that time saving stuff. Also, later this spring you'll be able to add image stickers from your gallery to your shorts as well, which I think sounds like an opportunity to have better branding on your shorts if you want. And finally, YouTube Shorts is introducing AI stickers. So you can essentially type in a text prompt and then you can generate a unique sticker to add to your short, whatever that might be. Also coming to YouTube shorts is AI generated music and music sync. So a lot of times we have this commercial music that we can have access to, or there's non commercial music that you can kind of look for, but maybe you can't find exactly what you want or you want to be able to put money behind your short at some point. Well, if it's a Taylor Swift song or a Beyonce song, you're not gonna be able to do that, right? So with this you'll be able to actually generate custom copyright free instrumental music that you can use in your shorts. You just type in a prompt, a format, a tempo, like whatever you want. And the AI will generate music. It's getting better and better at this, which is really, really cool. And then also, Shorts is experimenting with automatically syncing imported content to music beats in Shorts. So in other words, you could generate a song or it sounds like, use one that's already there and then suck in your footage. And if the beat is going 1, 2, 3, 4, it could actually go through and do jump cuts again. You wouldn't do this for spoken word videos, but you're doing product demos or showing off an event or something like that, you can end up with a really high production value. That might only take a minute or two, which is always nice. And then one more thing you'll see. I was kind of surprised that we didn't already have this, but you might see this. They're experimenting with visual guides in the shorts editor. So essentially, when you are dragging text or a sticker or something onto the screen, when you get to the side, you'll see like a line pop up or at the top or the bottom, just to remind you and show you exactly where there might be a graphic that says Shorts at the top or the like button along the side, or the description or the handle that shows up at the bottom. So just it's nice that it's going to be there. Now, if you've ever put out a short and you find out a key part is covered up by a graphic, obviously that's really, really frustrating. All right, more YouTube updates, including if you have subscribers that have that bell click so that they get notified every time you release a video, we may see a big change to this with something that they're announcing a test around here. I'll tell you about that here in just a second. But if you are struggling to keep up with the rapid evolution of AI, if you want to increase your productivity, enhance your creativity, and become truly indispensable in the age of artificial intelligence. We got this special thing coming up. AI marketing expert Dan Sanchez is going to be teaching this live workshop on May 1st at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern. It is a free masterclass, and he uncovers the 25 tools that will change how you create content forever. So if you've ever been a shiny object chaser like me, and you hear about this tool and this tool and this tool, and it's like, oh my gosh, I have no time to research them all. Dan's the guy that does that. So in this free masterclass, you're going to discover timesaving AI tools that turn hours of work into minutes, creative AI solutions for stunning visuals, videos and written content, automation strategies that multiply your content output and much, much more. In fact, I saw one of Dan's talks at Social Media Marketing World this year and the automation strategies that he showed were just mind blowing. So he's the one that filters it down so we can see the actual tools that can make a difference. You want to check this out? Sign up again, a free masterclass. Sign up right now@social mediaexaminer.com AI tools okay. Social media examiner.com AI tools so YouTube is testing something now around subscriber notifications. So when someone decides to subscribe to a channel, then they have the option to click that bell. You'll hear a lot of YouTubers say that, don't forget to click that bell, myself included. And they theoretically then will get notified in whatever ways they get notified. So it could be notifications on their phone if you haven't opted out of emails, getting an email every time a new video goes up. So it's been interesting the last couple of years because what's happened because of shorts, people are now publishing more frequently now, I think because of AI, people can create content faster, so other people are publishing more frequently. So if I as a user, or you as a user a few years ago was like, yeah, I like this channel. I want to hear about their one video a week subscribe, click that bell. And all of a sudden they're uploading six shorts and one long form video a week. Right. So they're conducting a small experiment to test improved notification experiences for viewers if they have all notifications enabled. So these are the ones that it's going to impact. So if somebody doesn't engage with your channel, even though they've said they want all notifications, they'll temporarily stop receiving those notifications in their app or in their email or wherever else they get them. Meanwhile though, if people are actively engaged, you know, they're actually clicking on them and watching your channel and things like that, it will continue with no changes at all. Okay. They do say if you're a channel that uploads infrequently, though, this isn't something you're going to have to worry about at all. You'll be just fine the way it is. All right? Okay. Ads update. This is not an ads update from the standpoint of only running ads, but also from the update of if you manage a channel that is monetized and shows ads. Couple of things here. First, you should know that they are changing something with mid roll ad features. Okay, so essentially mid roll ads are the ones that come up in the middle of a video. And this is changing dramatically starting in May, which as of today is only a week away right now. Right. So Starting in May, YouTube is going to tune the ad serving models, to use their phrase, to place more mid roll ads at break points. I think this is a reflection of the fact that people are creating more longer form content obviously on YouTube, as well as the increase in living room viewing. So what's happening now is YouTube is going to automatically add automatic ad slots to existing videos, even if you've previously chosen manual mid roll ad slots. I've done that because I have spots in my videos where I will literally say, all right, next we're going to cover this. And then that's where I want them to put the ad in because I've just put in a hook, you know, and opened a loop so someone will stay through the ad to, you know, see and hear the next thing. So what's going to happen after they start doing this though is you can go into your top performing videos and it'll actually show you. Like here you've got these manual ones and here we've got these automatic ones, and here are the ones that are actually working and here are the ones that are not being used. It sounds like they want all of us to just go to automatic mid roll selection. So you can go and look at your own information and decide what you want. But if you want to opt out of this, you can, you can just go to the earn tab in YouTube studio sometime between now and May 12th. Okay, so make sure you do that. And then also related to ads, this is exciting, especially if you are a podcaster. So one of the things that has been amazing about podcasts for years is dynamic audio insertion, or sometimes it's called dynamic ad insertion. And that is where rather than putting an ad into your episode and then just having it live there for years and years and years, you can actually add ads or whatever you're promoting for your own business into all of your episodes at once. So what this does is it essentially makes podcasting a timely platform. So let's say you have a big event coming up or a launch, a product launch or something like that. You could go back through all your podcast episodes and actually promote that thing that's coming up and then when it's over, you can pull it away. Well, now YouTube is developing dynamic host red ads for podcasts on YouTube. So previously, if you took your podcast, you sent it to YouTube, it you did not have this. So this is an incredible opportunity for anyone that has topical things that they want to promote. One of the most frustrating parts on YouTube is, especially if it's for business. Let's say something takes off, right? It becomes your biggest video, whether that's 5,000, 10,000 or 500,000 thousand views. And you're like, ah, I wish I could have said that. So we'll see. But it didn't say testing. It said, this is something that we are developing. Which makes me think they're taking podcasting seriously. Even more so. But I'm hoping we can do for our regular YouTube videos as well, because that would be massive from a marketing standpoint. All right, speaking of AI tools, we were talking about that upcoming workshop a few minutes ago. A lot of tools are rolling out to help you with YouTube, to help you brainstorm titles and thumbnails and find different formulas and create things that were inspired by videos that are already successful. Well, the Cool thing is YouTube is not just letting everyone else do that. They are creating their own stuff. And so we've seen some of this stuff rolling out. And one of the things that they are adding is called Brainstorm from anywhere. And what it does is it integrates comments and data from past videos on your channel into YouTube studio to help you come up with new video ideas. There's also a tool called hooks that provides AI powered hook suggestions to help you capture viewer attention. And then also something called quick saves where you can store ideas directly from the idea lists that are generated. So again, this is all rolling out. Everybody may not have it yet, but it's certainly cool to see, especially if you don't already have an organization system that works for your ideas or if you sometimes go, oh my gosh, I have to make a new video for my channel or for my client's channel and I don't know what I'm going to be able to do. Well, now AI is going to help you come up with ideas based on the actual data that YouTube has. Now they don't tell us, they don't go, you should make this because it's getting a lot of searches and there's not a lot of videos serving this topic. But still, the information straight from YouTube should be relatively valuable. All right, end screens have long time have been a really great way to get somebody to binge your content to stay on your channel. I always like to Say bingers or buyers, right? They watch one video and another, and all of a sudden they've watched five videos and they're thinking, okay, how can I buy your thing if they hadn't at that point? Well, YouTube is currently testing a new feature, both on mobile and desktop, that allows viewers to hide end screens. So when I first read this, I was like, no, why would you do this? But from reading about it, again, I don't have access to it. But it sounds like basically, if you've ever been watching the end of a video and the end screen pops up and it's literally blocking something that you want to see, they're now testing an opportunity to go and hide the end screen in that way. So I think as marketers going forward, just keep that in mind. You know, if you're using the full 20 seconds to put something on the end screen but there's still good content there, then just kind of consider the placement with how you film your video, how you edit your video, or where you actually put the end screens to the subscribe button or to watch another video or whatever else it might be. Now, if somebody does exit out of it, though, there is just a show button that will appear and it the top right of the video, and they can just tap that and it will all come back. All right, YouTube protections. So this is always good to hear. The platform has updated its privacy process to allow removal requests for synthetic content that simulates someone's likeness. And they're introducing new management tools to help people control how AI depicts them on the platform. So I think for the audience in this show, maybe you're making content around somebody that's famous and you just need to be aware that this is there where they can kind of go in and request to have something removed. But I think the biggest thing here, and I've been saying this for a while, when you upload a YouTube video, there are a lot of settings. A lot of settings. So if you're in a hurry, you're managing a bunch of channels like, it's easy to skip the ones that are not required. But there is the one setting that says, hey, is there anything that happens in this video that didn't actually happen? Essentially, is what it is. This is what they're talking about here right now. It's not required. You can check it or not check it. But I've gotten in the habit of always just checking. I haven't done any that have anything that's AI and fake. So I just check. No. Every time I think we're going to get to the point where we are going to be required to check it. So if you're not doing that, I think it's worth taking the 0.1 second to add it to your workflow just to be ready for this. So they've also launched a new pilot program giving influential figures access to this technology. So for example, if somebody is a celebrity, a politician, anything like that, then their team would actually have access to a tool to watch for all of this stuff. Okay. Also, some creators are being invited to help build AI protection tools ahead of time by submitting video selfies which essentially will be used to develop tools and detect and manage AI generated content showing creators faces. So my understanding of this not being an AI developer is you'd upload a selfie or the celebrity, whoever would upload a selfie and that way you would compare the video selfie to the AI generated one and go, oh, I don't know if it would be like the freckles are missing or this mole is missing or you know, something like that, but that is coming out as well. And quick update, if you are managing a channel that is on the verge of being monetized, something to know. They're now introducing a mail free. And when I say mail I mean snail mail free pin verification option in 24 markets. So it used to be you had to like get a physical postcard in the mail and now in 2025 we're moving on from that. Quick reminder, sign up for the free AI masterclass. This is happening May 1st and you can get your free ticket right now@social mediaexaminer.com AI tools okay, social mediaexaminer.com/AI-tools and if you want to add another podcast to your listening lineup, a couple of you to check out the social media marketing podcast as well as the AI explored podcast. Until next time. May you be wise with your marketing decisions. Thank you so much for being with us and we'll see you next time. Bye. The Social media marketing talk show is a Social Media examiner production. For more social media insight, visit Social Media Examiner.