July 21, 2025 — India: In a major step to amplify visibility for rising content creators, YouTube has officially launched ‘Hype’ in India, a new feature designed to spotlight long-form videos from smaller creators through community-driven engagement and discovery.
Following successful pilot programs in Brazil, Taiwan, and Turkey, where users cast over 5 million hypes across 50,000+ channels, Hype is now expanding to India and 20 global markets, including Indonesia, Mexico, and several countries across the EU.
How Hype Works:
Hype enables viewers to endorse newly uploaded videos (within 7 days of publishing) by giving them a “hype”—a form of positive signal that indicates the content resonated.
- Each viewer receives three free hypes per week, which they can use on any eligible long-form video.
- Hyped videos earn points that contribute to a weekly leaderboard, visible under the Explore tab.
- The top 100 most-hyped videos gain additional platform exposure, including potential placement on the YouTube home feed.
- Videos with high hype scores also receive fan-favorite badges, adding visibility and credibility to creators’ content.
Leveling the Playing Field for New Creators:
A core goal of Hype is to uplift creators with smaller followings—particularly those with between 500 and 500,000 subscribers. YouTube is offering bonus hype points to creators with fewer subscribers, ensuring that newer voices have a genuine shot at breaking through the noise and gaining traction in a highly competitive ecosystem.
Beyond Discovery – Toward Monetization:
While Hype does not currently impact YouTube’s algorithmic search or recommendation systems, it introduces a community-led discovery layer that reflects direct viewer sentiment. Additionally, YouTube is offering monetary rewards to creators whose videos perform exceptionally well on the Hype leaderboard, further incentivizing quality content creation.
Looking Ahead:
YouTube plans to evolve the Hype feature with more tools for creators, including mobile management options, and is exploring paid hype models to enhance promotional capabilities.
With India being one of YouTube’s fastest-growing and most diverse creator ecosystems, the launch of Hype reinforces the platform’s commitment to supporting grassroots creativity, enabling discovery, and rewarding meaningful engagement in the digital content landscape.