Watch the Conventions live on YouTube

Since politicians began announcing their candidacies last year, you've come to YouTube to stay informed and engage in a conversation on the importance of this year's election. From inside the White House to the debate stage, you've sat front row and watched more than 110 million hours of candidate and issues-related content on YouTube.

And now the YouTube community will have a chance to be front and center for the next phase of the election.

Just like in 2012, beginning next week, YouTube will again be the official live stream provider of both the Republican National Convention, which starts on Monday, July 18 in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Democratic National Convention, kicking off on July 25 in Philadelphia, Pa. Not only will you be able to watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of the conventions wherever you are, but for the first time, we'll live stream the conventions in 360 degrees, so you'll feel what it's like to be in the center of the action.

In addition, to help provide more information about what's going on at the conventions, some of your favorite YouTube creators are getting involved too. Look out for coverage from The Young Turks, Complex News, Seeker Daily, Ingrid Nilsen, Mark Watson, Julie Borowski and more. These creators, along with other news organizations, will report back to their communities using new tools including mobile live streaming and Jump VR cameras, so you will have nonstop coverage from a variety of perspectives.

We believe that access to more information can help everyone participate in the political process and we look forward to the YouTube community's lively discussion as we prepare to elect our next president.

Tune into the RNC next week at youtube.com/gopconvention and the DNC beginning July 25 at youtube.com/demconvention.

Brandon Feldman, YouTube News, recently watched “Political Campaigns: Crash Course Government and Politics #39.”

Introducing YouTube Director: A suite of video ad creation products for businesses

Whether it's for entertainment, indulging a passion, or discovering something new, more people are turning to YouTube to watch video. In fact, growth in watch time on YouTube is up at least 50 percent year-over-year.¹ Now, more than ever, businesses can connect with their customers through video advertising on YouTube.

But we know that creating a video ad can be challenging. To make it easier for every business- from a dog walker to a barber shop owner-to get started with advertising on YouTube, we're launching the YouTube Director suite of products. Three products that make video ads more accessible to businesses.

Make a video ad right from your phone

With the free YouTube Director for business app (available for iPhone today in the U.S. and Canada) anyone can create a video ad for their business quickly and easily-right from their phone. No editing experience required. People like Woody Lovell Jr., owner of the The Barber Shop Club in Los Angeles, are already seeing positive results with YouTube Director.

Woody shot and edited a video ad by himself, uploaded it to YouTube, and worked with an AdWords expert to run a campaign. As a result, Woody's business saw a significant increase in potential customers being able to remember and recognize his ad.²

We challenged five business owners-including Woody-to create a video ad in 20 minutes or less. Watch what happened and download the app to give it a try.



Get a professional to make your video ad

In select U.S. cities, we're also offering YouTube Director onsite, a service that sends a professional filmmaker to shoot and edit a video ad for free whenever a business spends at least $150 to advertise on YouTube. YouTube Director onsite is available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C.-and coming to more cities soon.

Is your business an app? We can create a video ad for you too

YouTube Director automated video creates a video ad automatically from existing assets like logos and app screenshots in the App Store or Google Play Store, and is available globally. Reach out to a Google expert (1-855-500-2756) for more information.

No matter what kind of business you're in, getting started with advertising on YouTube just became a whole lot easier. We can't wait to see what you make. Happy filming.

Max Goldman, Product Manager, YouTube Director, recently watched "YouTube Director Video Challenge."


¹ Google Data, 2016

² Woody's YouTube Director video ad for The Barber Shop Club drove a 73 percent increase in ad recall among target customers on YouTube, and a 56 percent lift in brand awareness (AdWords Brand Lift Study, June 2016)

YouTube creators meet Pope Francis to discuss promoting understanding and empathy

YouTube has helped millions of people see that we have a lot in common, despite our differences. Building these bridges can start with a simple conversation, and over the past 11 years, we've seen YouTube creators use the power of video to do just that. From Hayla Ghazal encouraging women in the Middle East and around the world to speak up, to Dulce Candy sharing her own story as an undocumented immigrant and military veteran, creators from around the world have used our platform to express themselves, encourage new perspectives, and inspire solidarity within global fan bases.

We want to continue empowering people to come to YouTube to tell stories and form connections that encourage empathy and understanding between diverse communities.

That's why today 11 international YouTube creators met with Pope Francis, who cares deeply about bringing young people together. This first-of-its-kind dialogue took place during the VI Scholas World Congress, which the Pope created to encourage peace through real encounters with youth from different backgrounds.

The YouTube creators who participated in this conversation represent more than 27 million subscribers globally. They come from ten different countries and diverse religious backgrounds: Louise Pentland (United Kingdom), Lucas Castel (Argentina), Matemática Río (Brazil), Hayla Ghazal (United Arab Emirates), Dulce Candy (United States), Matthew Patrick (United States), Jamie and Nikki (Australia and Sudan/Egypt), Greta Menchi (Italy), Los Polinesios (Mexico) and anna RF (Israel).

During the conversation with the Pope, these creators raised topics that they are passionate about as role models, including immigrant rights, gender equality, loneliness and self-esteem, and greater respect for diversity of all kinds.

We're inspired by the many conversations these creators have sparked throughout their YouTube journeys. To hear more about what they discussed at the Vatican today, tune in to each of their channels for personal videos in the coming weeks. We hope to continue helping people share their stories - the more we can all understand, the more we can come together as a global community.

Juniper Downs, Head of Policy for YouTube, recently watched “I am a Muslim, hug me if you trust me.”

YouTube brings E3 to you wherever you are

Last year, millions of gamers came together on YouTube for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). We watched as Bethesda unveiled “Fallout 4,” and many of us had our prayers answered when Square Enix shared a first look at the “Final Fantasy VII” remake. For more than a few gamers, E3 is the must-see gaming event of the year, an annual moment that defines the industry (and our collective wallets) for the coming 12 months.

YouTube will give gamers around the world front-row access to everything E3 again this year with dozens of live streams scheduled throughout the week. To make moments like this even better, we are launching event pages in YouTube Gaming, which serve as destinations for watching the biggest gaming and eSports events. Kicking things off, we'll have a unique event hub for E3, available at gaming.youtube.com/e3 in June.

A home for live streams and on-demand videos, the YouTube Gaming E3 hub will put all our E3 coverage in one place. You'll be able to browse videos and streams, chat live with fellow gamers, vote for your favorite trailers in the legendary Trailer Battle, and catch up on announcements you might have missed.

Coverage begins on Sunday, June 12, with early press conferences from EA and Bethesda. Stay tuned on YouTube after the press conferences because you won't want to miss post-coverage from our friends at Rooster Teeth - who will be streaming from the conference throughout the week.

The play-by-play coverage continues on Monday, June 13 at 9 a.m. PT, with YouTube Live at E3, an exclusive 12-hour stream hosted by Geoff Keighley and brought to you by Samsung. Live at E3 will bring you the live coverage of press conferences you crave along with developer interviews, live let's plays of new games you won't find anywhere else, and surprise guests like MatPat, iHasCupquake and CaptainSparklez.


Speaking about MatPat, if you're in L.A. before E3, make sure to stop by the YouTube Space LA for a fan event on June 8 and a peek at MatPat's Game Lab. RSVP here.

See you at E3!

Ryan Wyatt, Global Head of Gaming Content, recently watched “Game Lab: TEST Games In Real Life then EXPERIENCE them in VR!”

A YouTube experience like nothing you've seen before

Ever wish you could swim with sharks, ride in an Indy Car, or go on a world tour? Well, later this year you'll be able to experience these events and more as if you were really there with the YouTube VR app.

For more than a year, we've been adding support for new video and audio formats on YouTube like 360-degree video, VR video and Spatial Audio. These were the first steps on our way toward a truly immersive video experience, and now we're taking another one with the YouTube VR app for Daydream, Google's platform for high-quality mobile virtual reality, announced today at Google I/O.

We're creating the YouTube VR app to provide an easier, more immersive way to find and experience virtual reality content on YouTube. It also comes with all the YouTube features you already love, like voice search, discovery, and playlists, all personalized for you, so you can experience the world's largest collection of VR videos in a whole new way.

And thanks to the big, early bet we made on 360-degree and 3-D video, you will be able to see all of YouTube's content on the app-everything from classic 16x9 videos to 360-degree footage to cutting-edge VR experiences in full 3-D. Whether you want a front row seat to your favorite concert, access to the best museums in the world, or a midday break from work watching your favorite YouTube creator, YouTube VR will have it all.

To bring even more great VR content onto YouTube, we've been working with some amazing creators to experiment with new formats that offer a wide range of virtual experiences. We're already collaborating with the NBA, BuzzFeed and Tastemade to explore new ways of storytelling in virtual environments that will provide valuable lessons about the way creators and viewers interact with VR video. Stay tuned!

We've also been working with camera partners to make Jump-ready cameras, such as the GoPro Odyssey, available to creators, to help make the production of VR video more accessible. And today, we're officially launching our Jump program at the YouTube Spaces in L.A. and NYC and we will it bring to all YouTube Space locations around the globe soon.

We're just beginning to understand what a truly immersive VR experience can bring to fans of YouTube, but we're looking forward to making that future a (virtual) reality.

Kurt Wilms, Senior Product Manager, YouTube Virtual Reality, recently watched "Insane 360 video of close-range tornado near Wray, CO yesterday!"

A new mobile design for your Home

Whether you want to watch hilarious sketch comedy, your favorite vlogger, new let's plays, or music videos, you should be able to see new videos you love every time you visit YouTube-right on your homepage. Starting today, when you open the YouTube app on your iPhone or Android phone, you'll experience a redesigned Home, with a clean and simple format that invites you to discover and enjoy.

Large, high resolution images make it easy to identify videos you want to watch, and a prominent icon highlights the creator for every video

This isn't just a new coat of paint on the same old Home-we've coupled a fresh design with more relevant personalized recommendations that make it easier to discover videos you'll be excited to watch. The new recommendation system is based on deep neural network technology, which means it can find patterns automatically and keep learning and improving as it goes. Every day, we recommend hundreds of millions of different videos on Home, billions of times, in 76 languages.

One of the biggest improvements is how the system suggests more recent videos and those from the creators you love. People who have tried the new system have spent more time watching fresh videos and content from their Subscriptions.

We hope you'll enjoy your new Home, built just for you!

Brian Marquardt, Product Manager, YouTube Main App, recently watched "Troye Sivan: Youth" and Todd Beaupré, Product Manager, YouTube Discovery, recently watched "M83 - Do It, Try It."

One step closer to reality: introducing 360-degree live streaming and spatial audio on YouTube

Growing up as a kid, my favorite basketball player was Magic Johnson. I wanted nothing more than to be able to watch him play in person, but unfortunately I never got the chance. Whether it's a sporting event or a concert or even a family gathering, all of us have had the feeling of wanting to be somewhere we couldn't. But these days, virtual reality and 360-degree video can help get you one step closer to actually being at those places and in those moments. Today, we're taking immersive video even further with 360-degree live streaming on YouTube.

We first launched support for 360-degree videos back in March 2015. From musicians to athletes to brands, creators have done some incredible things with this technology. Now, they'll be able to do even more to bring fans directly into their world, with 360-degree live streaming. And after years of live streaming Coachella for fans around the world who can't attend the festival, this year we're bringing you the festival like never before by live streaming select artist performances in 360 degrees this weekend.

Starting today, we're also launching spatial audio for on-demand YouTube videos. Just as watching a concert in 360 degrees can give you an unmatched immersive experience, spatial audio allows you to listen along as you do in real life, where depth, distance and intensity all play a role. Try out this playlist on your Android device.

To make sure all creators can tell awesome stories with virtual reality, we've been working with companies across the industry. We're working with companies like VideoStitch and Two Big Ears to make their software compatible with 360-degree live streams or spatial audio on YouTube and more will be available soon. We'll also make 360-degree live streaming and spatial audio technologies available at all YouTube Space locations around the globe, so you can take it for a spin.

What excites me most about 360-degree storytelling is that it lets us open up the world's experiences to everyone. Students can now experience news events in the classroom as they unfold. Travelers can experience faraway sites and explorers can deep-sea dive, all without the physical constraints of the real world. And today's kids dreaming of going to a basketball game or a concert can access those experiences firsthand, even if they're far away from the court. What were once limited experiences are now available to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Are you ready to never miss a moment again?

Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, recently watched "Dub360: Stephen Curry pregame warmup routine."