YouTube Rolls Out Hype Feature to 39 Countries, Helping Small Creators Shine

YouTube has launched its exciting "Hype" feature in 39 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and India, to give a boost to smaller creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers.

First tested in Brazil, Taiwan, and Turkey, Hype lets viewers support up-and-coming talent by "hyping" up to three videos each week, helping these creators stand out on the crowded platform.

With the Hype feature, fans can click a button below a video to give it a shout-out. The system rewards videos with points, giving extra weight to creators with smaller audiences to make things fairer. Videos that rack up enough points can land on a leaderboard in YouTube’s Explore section, getting them more eyes.

Hyped videos also sport a special “hyped” badge across the platform, and fans can filter their Home feed to find more hyped content. Plus, viewers get a heads-up when their hyped videos are close to hitting the leaderboard, and top supporters can earn a cool “Hype Star” badge each month, making it fun to get involved.

• YouTube Expands “Hype” Feature to 39 Countries, Boosting Small Creators
• New YouTube Hype Tool Helps Creators Under 500K Subscribers Gain Visibility
• Fans Can Now Hype Videos to Push Emerging Creators onto YouTube Leaderboards

For creators, YouTube Studio now offers a hype analytics tool that shows how many hypes, points, and weekly recaps their videos are getting. This helps them understand what their audience loves and plan better content. YouTube also plans to add leaderboards for specific categories like gaming or fashion to make it easier for fans to find videos they’re into.

Jessica Locke, YouTube’s Product Manager, said,  “We created Hype to give fans a unique way to help their favorite emerging creators get noticed.” YouTube is even testing ways for fans to buy extra hypes in Brazil and Turkey, hinting at future ways to make money from the feature.

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Since its test run, Hype has been a hit, with over 5 million hypes across 50,000 channels in just four weeks. As it gets harder to break through on YouTube, Hype puts fans in the driver’s seat, helping small creators get the spotlight they deserve.