YouTube gives creators new tools for tracking viral hits

YouTube is updating its Creator Studio apps to introduce actionable advice and insights. It says will make it easier for video producers to make informed decisions on how to grow their channel.

The latest version, available for Android and iOS, takes advantage of the wealth of data collected by YouTube analytics, and automatically transforms it into actionable nuggets of advice that are presented to the user on something it calls a ‘data card’.

Here’s how it’ll work. YouTube will automatically notify the channel owner when an event happens. These can be short-term things, such as a sudden spike in views from an external source, or a sudden increase or decrease of subscribers. They can also be long-term things, such as a change in viewer demographics.

YouTube Creator Studio will then tell the creator how they can take advantage of that change.

The YouTube scene is becoming increasingly competitive, with an ever-growing number of content creators vying for views and ad-revenue.

This dependence on data-driven insights is just an example of how competitive it really is. It’s indicative of the sites’ transformation from the early DIY years of people talking to their webcams in their bedrooms, to the lucrative business it now is.