In mid-February, Susan Wojcicki, the long-time CEO of Google's YouTube division announced she was departing the company. Today, the new CEO of YouTube, Neal Mohan, posted a lengthy blog entry that outlined his plans for the service in 2023 and beyond.
Mohan, who previously was YouTube's Chief Product Officer, stated that one of his priorities for the new year is to help more YouTube creators make money off the service. He stated:
Hundreds of thousands of channels made money on YouTube for the first time last year. And we’re providing more opportunities for creators outside of ads by expanding our subscriptions business, investing in shopping, and continually improving our paid digital goods offerings.
Mohan also plans to expand certain features for creators to reach out to more fans. That includes adding language tracks to the service's livestreams and Shorts. Also, there are plans to expand gifting subscriptions to users on mobile devices.
YouTube has also become a major podcast platform, and Mohan says that more podcasting features for creators are in the works. That includes adding audio and video podcasts to US YouTube Music subscribers. In a bit of old-fashioned internet social networking, RSS integration is also coming soon for YouTube podcasters.
One interesting upcoming feature could be a big boost for video creators who post reaction videos of movies, TV shows, trailers, and more. Mohan wrote:
This year, we’ll roll out a creation tool that lets creators record a Short in a side-by-side layout with both Shorts and YouTube videos so they can easily add their own take on a trend or join in with reactions.
YouTube is also working on adding the current trend of generative AI tools for creators. Mohan didn't have many details on this topic but he did state that it is "taking the time to develop these features with thoughtful guardrails."
Finally, Mohan commented on adding more safety features to the service, especially with YouTube Kids. This comes even as a UK charity group called 5Rights filed a formal complaint against YouTube this week for allegedly taking data from children illegally.
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