YouTube expands 'Hype' to 39 countries: What is it, how it works, and more

YouTube's Hype feature lets the viewers on the platform support creators with under 500K subscribers, earn points, and see videos on leaderboards across 39 countries worldwide

YouTube is expanding its “hype” feature to more countries, enabling viewers to help smaller creators gain visibility on the platform. Introduced last year, the Hype feature on YouTube is now live in 39 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and India. According to YouTube, the move aims to give fans a new way to actively support emerging creators and help them get noticed on a competitive platform.

How Hype feature works

On YouTube, viewers can hype up to three videos per week from creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers. Each hyped video earns points and has a chance to appear on a ranked leaderboard, which is accessible through the Explore menu. The system is designed to level the playing field: the fewer the subscribers, the larger the bonus points a creator receives. This ensures that smaller, authentic channels get a fair opportunity to rise in visibility. The leaderboard is not personalised, and will display the same list of videos to all viewers in the same country, so you can discover fresh content that people near you have endorsed with a hype.

 

Enhancements for viewers

 

YouTube has made hype easier to use and more interactive. A dedicated hype button now sits directly under each video, allowing video viewers to quickly show support. Hyped videos display a “hyped” badge across the platform, and users can filter their Home feed to view content that has been hyped. Fans also receive notifications when videos they have hyped approach the leaderboard. Additionally, the most engaged supporters can earn a monthly hype star badge, highlighting their contributions to the community. 

 

Enhancements for creators

 

Creators can gain new insights into audience engagement with a dedicated hype card in YouTube Studio. They can see exactly how many hypes and hype points each video has received, along with a recap in their weekly analytics, which will help them track growth and understand which content resonates most with fans. 

 

Upcoming

 

YouTube also mentioned that the platform is planning to roll out leaderboards for specific categories, such as gaming and style, along with a feature that allows fans to share that they just hyped a video, giving creators even more exposure.

 

In addition, Hype will offer YouTube a new revenue stream as the company said it plans to let fans purchase more “hypes” to help boost their favourite videos in the future. Paid hypes are currently being tested in Brazil and Turkey for the time being.