Platform

YouTube Rolls Out ‘Hype’ Feature Globally To Boost Smaller Creators

Published on August 27, 2025

YouTube is expanding its “Hype” feature to 39 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and India. The feature, designed to increase discoverability for creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers, places a dedicated button directly under videos.

Viewers can hype up to three videos per week from eligible creators. Each hype contributes points toward a video’s ranking on a leaderboard accessible through YouTube’s Explore menu. The system employs a weighted scoring mechanism that gives greater boosts to creators with smaller subscriber counts.

“When a video is hyped, it receives points, giving it a chance to end up on a new ranked leaderboard,” Jessica Locke, Product Manager at YouTube, wrote in the company’s blog post. “The fewer the subscribers, the bigger the bonus, giving the most authentic emerging creators a better opportunity to get noticed.”

New Features for Fans and Creators

The global rollout introduces several enhancements for viewers:

A dedicated hype button positioned under videos.
“Hyped” badges displayed on videos across the platform.
A filterable “hyped” category in the Home feed.
Notifications when hyped videos approach leaderboard status.
A monthly “hype star” badge for dedicated supporters.

For creators, YouTube has added performance metrics in YouTube Studio’s mobile app, including hype count and points for each video. A new hype analytics card and weekly data recap provide additional performance insights.

Early Results and Developments

During initial beta testing in Turkey, Taiwan, and Brazil, YouTube reported over 5 million hypes across more than 50,000 unique channels within the first four weeks. The company’s research indicated that 75% of surveyed viewers – with higher percentages among Gen Z users – expressed interest in supporting smaller creators.

YouTube plans to introduce interest-specific leaderboards for categories like gaming and style. The platform is also developing sharing functionality that will allow users to amplify their hype actions. According to TechCrunch, YouTube is testing purchasable hypes in Brazil and Turkey, potentially creating a new revenue stream.