Imagine this:

You're watching a highly anticipated livestream. The livestream crescendos into the climax and then...

[Insert Ads Here]

Suddenly, your experience has a moment of disruption and frustration. Nobody wants to see ads, especially one that is at the vital moment.

This is where YouTube's newest feature comes in: Side-by-side ads.

When it's time for ads, the livestream will be muted until the ad ends. However, you'll still be able to watch the stream without missing a single moment.

There is a criteria that you need to fulfill in order to use it. Click on the gif above to check what it is!

New experiment just dropped: Fan leaderboard for livestreams!

YouTube is testing a leaderboard for the most engaged viewers on livestreams. Viewers can earn points by engaging with livestream—although YouTube hasn't specifically mention what sort of engagement.

We assume it's chatting and sending Super Chats, whether they're equal points or not.

If they get within the top 50, they'll be given a crown next to their name. The top 3 viewers will earn a badge.

This is a great opportunity to get more viewers to talk and a great way for you to know who's your most engaged viewer. However, if you don't want to participate in the leaderboard, you can turn it off in your YouTube settings.

YouTube's been really interested in leaderboards, whether it's for podcasts or the Hype leaderboard. What we wonder is how YouTube will showcase these leaderboards in a way that attract viewer's attention. If there's one thing we know, it's that YouTube's not the greatest in telling viewers that they have a new feature.

Another way to view posts: Viewers will now see your posts in the Shorts feed.

It's no secret that YouTube's been finding ways to show posts to your viewers, especially on your homepage. So here comes another area of discovery that we didn't expect... posts in Shorts.

Viewers will be able to view suggested posts in their Shorts feed, similar to how they can view comments.

This may increase community engagement and also encourage creators to post more. Although, this feature could stem from YouTube's new Community feature, which allows fans to post on the creator's Community tab.

If that's the case, then this could just be a fancier version of comments.

Have you gotten the new Community yet? Have you tried it?

Let us know what you think in the KDCC Discord!

Google Lens is coming to Shorts. Good for audience, but maybe not the creators.

If you're not sure what Google Lens is, it is a feature that allows you to search an object or place on your screen or through your camera.

YouTube says this will help viewers translate text or get more information about the place and culture within the Short.

Lens won't search for people in a Short, but this can still prove to be an issue if viewers are able to locate creators... especially if the creator made a Short near their home.

Suggestion: Don't publish content of your latest location immediately. Space it out so that by the time the video goes up, you're no longer in that location.