YouTube has launched the innovative Hype feature in India, aiming to spotlight small and emerging creators and help them grow their channels. After testing in Turkey, Taiwan, and Brazil, Hype is now available for Indian creators with between 500 and 500,000 subscribers. This fan-powered discovery tool places a special “Hype” button on eligible videos, enabling viewers to boost their favorite content within the critical first 7 days of publication. Each hype adds points, increasing a video’s chance to appear on a dedicated Top 100 leaderboard and potentially on the YouTube Home feed, thus dramatically improving discoverability for new creators.
What makes YouTube Hype stand out is its clever reward system designed to level the playing field for smaller channels. Users can hype up to three videos weekly at no cost, and channels with fewer subscribers receive extra points per hype. This system ensures that new, talented voices aren’t overshadowed by larger or more established channels, allowing underrepresented creators to gain traction and build an audience. Videos that land in the Top 100 most hyped list also earn badges, providing an additional signal of quality and popularity.
By empowering viewers to actively champion their favorite small creators, Hype builds stronger community engagement and validates trending content early. Creators benefit from heightened exposure and meaningful audience interaction, while fans play a crucial role in their growth. In its global trials, Hype propelled over 50,000 unique channels into the spotlight, confirming its power as a discovery engine that breaks algorithmic barriers and helps India’s creative community thrive.
