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When India banned TikTok in 2020, YouTube responded by launching a short-form video feature with a similar user experience in the country. Less than a year later, that feature rolled out globally as YouTube Shorts, which allows creators to post 180-second-long swipeable vertical content. Today, YouTube Shorts has roughly 1.5 billion users and receives an average of 70 billion daily views. With TikToks future in limbo in the U.S.a much-delayed ban is set to take effect on June 19Shorts is hoping that TikToks audience of almost 2 billion people will see it as a compelling alternative. YouTube is already the second-most visited site in the world, and the platform has spent years building a strong creator ecosystem. YouTube Shorts product lead Todd Sherman came on the Most Innovative Companies Podcast to talk working with creators, tweaking the Shorts algorithm, and competing with TikTok. It’s been five years since you launched YouTube Shorts in India. Why did you create the product, and why launch it in India first? I worked at Twitter when we had Vine and I recognized it as the beginning of something. Even though Vine didn’t continue forward, and other apps took its place, none quite had the same vibe. At YouTube, we wanted to get into short-form video. We felt like it was going to give a whole new generation of creators a voice and would also be really fun to watch short videos between moments throughout the day. India was an important proving ground. Theres a long tail of Android devices there and a lot of them are lower-end. Theres a massive group of creative people [there], and it has a really big population, so we wanted to plant a stake in that market. Around five years ago, as YouTube Shorts launched, TikTok took off in the Unites States. How did you think about that product as you were developing Shorts? A lot of people started paying attention to short form video when TikTok started to get scale. [But] I had been paying attention to it since Vine, and pushing for us to make progress there even before TikTok was a mainstream name. It’s interesting to take inventory of how short-form video evolved. At first it was just squarish videos with no algorithm and a really basic camera where you just held your finger on the screen to record segments. Then Dubsmash and Musical.ly really embraced the remix of the sound. They added the audio pivot page where you could see all of the other videos that were using that sound, but there still really weren’t great algorithms. What [TikTok developer and eventual Musical.ly acquirer] ByteDance did is they were applying machine learning algorithms to short-form video in a way that none of the other ones had been. I think the most impressive thing about the rise of TikTok is really their algorithm and how effective they are at finding videos that you want to watch, [while] also supporting creator growth. There’s always two sides to the algorithm. It’s how easy is it to get started and [get viewers] inspired, but then also how good is it at serving viewer needs? That continues to be a really bright spot for them. Something that is a huge commitment for us is improving the algorithm over time. Does the Shorts algorithm operate the same way as the longer YouTube one? There’s many things that are different in short form because you watch so many more of them. So you approach the amount of diversity across hundreds of videos across different topics or creators differently than if youre serving people 10 or 15 videos a day that are longer form. In short form, you can proactively introduce people to new things more easily, because the cost of being wrong is a lot lower. Do Shorts viewers often click through to watch longer videos from creators they like? That’s one way that happens. We also try to understand these videos through technology. We try to know how videos are related, even if one is short or one is long. We feed these [videos] into what we call an embedding space that [has] a higher dimensional video understanding capability. And so that means a short video can sit in this spot [where] it shares space with longer videos. Because of that, we say to ourselves, here’s all the videos that you enjoy about training dogs, and maybe [some of them are] short videos. Because we have that understanding, we can start to recommend longer videos related to that. Does that work across categories? I like dance videos that are short. I might not actually longer dance videos. Longer ones tend to be more about choreography and I have zero hopes of ever dancing in any respectable way. So from a personalized point of view, I only like one and not the other, whereas for dog training or science videos, I may like both. So the algorithm is personalized. Last year, Shorts went from being one-minute long to three-minutes long. Why did you make that decision? We’re always listening to creators. Sometimes when people are telling a story, it just feels like they’re hitting against this wall. I would go to creator events and ask them what is on their wishlist. Especially amongst people that have this narrative-style storytelling where they’re scripting and there’s a dialogue, they were asking if they could get a little breathing room. It led us to say, we think that we can expand this while still preserving the shorter side of videos. Around a minute and 45 seconds-long, videos tends to be more narrative style, where you have beginning, middle, and end. We want all those stories to be told on YouTube. You recently changed the way views are counted on the platform. Why is that? On long-form YouTube, most engagement comes from people explicitly selecting a video. They’re tapping or they’re clicking and then they’re watching. The vast majority of engagement is explicit. When we started auto-playing things, we asked ourselves, when should we count it as a view? Should it just be immediately? No, we think we should basically approximate it to be equivalent to when somebody clicked or tapped. So we started adding watch time thresholds. Then we inherited that for Shorts. But when we looked at Shorts and what people were telling us, they were telling us they expect it to start counting views [as soon as] they see the video. [We would] talk to new creators, and they’re like, I got zero viewsno one saw my video. Actually, that wasnt true. A lot of people liked their video, but no one watched the video up to the threshold that we define as a view. Within short-form content, most engagement is not coming from explicitly selecting a specific video. It’s coming from people swiping in the feed. So it’s a bit of a redefinition of view. We made the decision [to count all views as views no matter the threshold] because the fundamentals of the product are that when people view your video, they’re just sort of swiping into it. What are your conversations like with Shorts creators?Thescale of Shorts is now that we sort of have to segment creators to kind of talk about them. [Some] long-form creators are effectively production studios with teams. When you think about how they like to use Shorts, they love it as either kind of a creative outlet to try something new. They use it as a testing ground for new ideas. And if something pops off there, then maybe they’ll go and invest 80 hours making a longer video. Who are your favorite creators to follow? I really like Nile Red. He’s this chemist. We watch a lot of his shorts in the living room because he does these little science experiments, and I have little kids. We recently watched one where he tried to make coffee end to end. I’ve also been getting into cooking videos. I don’t know how to cook well, but there’s something I love about watching people quickly prepare a meal. Ian Fujimoto has great storytelling and a great personality. Theres also Nick Suarez who has a channel The Nick of Time where they involve their family in internet trends.
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E-Commerce
Booking travel has become a bit of a gameespecially if you want to get the best possible prices and avoid getting ripped off. Thats because hotels and airlines have developed the lovely habit of futzing around endlessly with their rates. Depending on when, exactly, you go to book the room or flight you want, you might end up being charged way more than if you waited a few days or even hours for prices to drop. The problem is that its damn-near impossible to figure out the logic behind it and know the right time to buy. And who among us has the time or energy to stay on top of that and keep checking back at all hours with the hope of magically stumbling onto a magnificent deal? Well, my fellow savings-seeker, weve officially got a better way. Its a completely free-to-use service, with no downloads or installations involved. In fact, its right in front of your facejust waiting to be found. Be the first to find all sorts of little-known tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. One useful new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! Your travel-planning deal-seeker Our tool in question is actually just a websiteone you mightve even visited before. But its got a simple-seeming new switch that massively boosts its usefulness and transforms what its able to accomplish. The tool is none other than Googles hotel search site. The site has long been a handy way to compare hotel prices and reviews for any given date and locationand now, as of this month, it sports a single subtle switch that can save you serious money. The switch automatically tracks prices on any specific dates and destinations youre considering. Once you flip it into the active position, Google will send you updates via email anytime prices drop with any hotels that match your parametersso that way, youll instantly know the second savings become available and you can zip over to complete your purchase right at that most optimal moment. Youll need about 20 seconds to get things going. Just head to google.com/hotels in any browser, on any device, and look for the newly added Track hotel prices options within the search area at the top of the screenafter youve put in a location and dates. That new “Track hotel prices” toggle is the key to finding good deals. If you arent seeing the switch right away, try clicking or tapping on a specific hotel in the resultsor try performing a different search and then coming back to your original search after. It can be a little finicky at first, but once the switch shows up once, it seems to stick around even as you change the specific parameters youre searching for. Its placement may change, but the purpose remains the same. Google offers a similar switch on its flight search site, too, by the way. There, you have to start a new searchthen the switch will show up once youve selected specific flights. One quick click, and you can find the best prices on flights, too. Either way, once you flip the switch, Google will email you alerts to let you know anytime prices change. (You will need to be signed into Google during the initial search, for obvious reasonsor it wont know your email address and be able to send you those updates!) Alerts about price drops land right in your regular inbox. Notably, you still end up making your purchase through the actual hotel or airlineor, if you so choose, a third-party reseller. Google itself doesnt handle any transactions or payments; it just scans all sorts of sources for the best possible prices, then links you out to the appropriate place whenever youre ready to buy. Bonus tip: If you own an Android device, combine this site with the app-creating advice I shared in a recent issue of my Android Intelligence newsletter for a powerful one-two punch of on-demand efficiency! Googles hotel search site and flight search site are both available on the webno apps or downloads required. The services, including their price-tracking systems, are completely free to use. And they follow Googles standard privacy practices, in which no personal data is ever sold or shared with any third parties. Ready for more life-enhancing excellence? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an exceptional audio app that’ll tune up your daysand another off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!
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E-Commerce
After a five year reprieve, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is coming for defaulted federal student loans. The ED has not collected on defaulted loans since all payments on federal student loans were paused as part of the Covid-19 emergency relief effort in 2020. Student loan payments resumed on September 1, 2023 for all 42.7 million federal student loan borrowers. The majority of borrowers resumed monthly payments at that time and have loans in good standing. However, some 5 million borrowers have not made a payment for more than 270 days, meaning their loans are currently in default. The ED refrained from collecting on defaulted loans until earlier this week. Nearly 5 million more borrowers are currently delinquent, meaning they have missed at least one payment and owe a past due amount. If these borrowers dont repay the past due amount or otherwise make their federal loans current, we may see upwards of 10 million borrowersalmost one-quarter of all federal borrowersdefault on their federal student loans before the end of this year. Unfortunately, the government has called in the heavies to enforce collections on defaulted loans. The good news is that the Department of Education wont send a leg-breaker named Eyeball to shake down borrowers for missing payments. The bad news is that government collections garnish your paycheck or Treasury payments instead of menacing you in a dark alley. Whether youre in good standing, delinquent, or in default on your student loans, its important to understand what to expect from federal student loan collections. Heres what you need to know. Garnishment hasnt started yet If youve only seen the headlines about collections restarting for defaulted loans, you might assume that as of May 5, 2025, borrowers in default were already seeing money lifted from their paychecks and Treasury payments. But even though we have a WWE Secretary of Education, the ED cant pull a heel-turn without any warning. According to Adam Minsky, an attorney who focuses on helping student loan borrowers and their families, it was only the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) that began this week. In other words, as of May 5, TOP began the process of identifying borrowers in default so they can be notified of the governments intent to offset, aka garnish. As of Wednesday, May 7, TOP has sent initial notices to 195,000 federal student loan borrowers. But borrowers have a 65-day window to respond to the notices before any offset actually begins, Minsky says. This means any borrower in default still has time to avoid garnishment even if they have already received a notice. Challenges facing borrowers in default Although no one is facing an immediate threat of garnishment, it can still take time to go from default to good standing, especially considering the logistics of federal student loan repayment. To start, interest has been accruing on all defaulted loans since September 2023, increasing the total debt burden for borrowers in default. Additionally, many federal student loans have been transferred from one servicer to another, leaving many borrowers confused as to who they need to pay. Finally, Minsky also warns borrowers about Uncle Sams long memory. Unlike most other types of consumer debt, federal student loans do not have a statute of limitations, he says. That means they don’t expire, and the government can pursue defaulted federal student loan borrowers even if the loans are many years old. So maybe you should let go of your plan to grow a mustache and go on the lam instead of dealing with your defaulted loan. However, there are some concrete strategies borrowers can use to get out of default. Returning your loan to good standing Jenny Twomey, manager of external communications at private lending company Earnest, wants to reassure borrowers that they can take control of their defaulted student loans. She recommends following these steps to return their loans to good standing: Find your federal student loan servicer The first thing you should do is figure out exactly who your current loan servicer is. And if youre embarrassed that you dont know, Twomey wants to assure you that youre in good company. Its common for people to not know who is servicing their loan, she says. In addition to the giant game of hot potato that MOHELA, Aidvantage, and Nelnet seem to be playing with federal student loans, borrowers can lose touch with their loan servicer after moving, changing their email address, losing their password, or otherwise focusing on other stuff over the course of five tumultuous years. There are a couple of ways to find your loan servicer: Check your Federal Student Aid account. There should be a section called My Loan Servicers on your dashboard and that has your servicer information for you, Twomey says.To log into this account, you will need your email, phone number, or FSA ID username. If youve forgotten your login, the Federal Student Aid site offers several methods for accessing or recovering your account. Call or email the Federal Student Aid Information Center. You can contact this information center at customerservice@studentaid.gov or 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) Refer to your original loan documents. Your original loan documents will have your servicers listed, says Twomey. That will tell you who your servicer was to begin with. Look at your credit report. Something thats not common knowledge is that your servicers are listed on your credit report as well, says Twomey. Youre entitled to a free copy of your annual credit report each year at AnnualCreditReport.com. Pulling up your credit report to find your servicers will let ou cross two financial tasks off your to-do list: find your servicer and review your credit report for errors. Check your federal student loan terms Once youve found your servicer, you will need to find all the details of your loan, including your current loan balance your interest rate the length of your repayment period the monthly payment These terms can come as a surprise to borrowers, even if they havent missed a payment. Twomey says that a recent Earnest survey found that graduates expect to pay off their student loans in an average of 6 years, but the actual average repayment period is 20 years. Knowing these terms allows you to make a plan for returning your loan to good standing. Explore your options with your servicer Minsky explains that loan servicers may offer a number of options for avoiding collections. You can contact your servicer to determine which of these potential strategies might work best for your financial situation. Just remember that each strategy has benefits and drawbacks, and not all of these options will work for every borrower. Switch to an income-driven repayment If your loan is delinquent, meaning your payment is less than 270 days past due, you may be able to ask your servicer to switch you to an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. Your monthly payment on an IDR is based on your income and family size, meaning your payment may be as low as $0 per month. When you apply for IDR, your servicer may put your loan on administrative forbearance while your application is processed. Just remember that borrowers already in default cant apply for IDR. Student loan discharge: There are some specific situations where borrowers can have their loans discharged, meaning they are no longer obligated to repay the loan. If your school closed or lost its accreditation, if you have become totally and permanently disabled, or if you meet certain requirements when declaring bankruptcy, you may be eligible for loan discharge. Loan rehabilitation: Under this option, your loan servicer will set a monthly payment amount equal to either 10% or 15% of your annual discretionary income, divided by 12. You must make 9 payments of this amount within 20 days of the due date over 10 consecutive months, which will return your loan to good standing. You may only take advantage of loan rehabilitation once. Up to 20% of each payment may be applied to collection fees, but these fees are not capitalized if you complete the rehabilitation. Loan payoff: Paying off your loan in full will get you out of default, but most borrowers dont have 10s of thousands of dollars lying around for that purpose. That leaves two options for paying off a defaulted loan: consolidation and refinancing.Federal Direct Loan Consolidation allows you to combine multiple federal student loans into a single loan. While consolidation will not reduce your interest rate, it can potentially lower your monthly payments and it will make all of your federal loans current. You have to make three consecutive payments on a defaulted loan before you can apply for consolidation and you cant consolidate a defaulted loan that is already being collected through garnishment. This means any borrower who has already received a notice of garnishment from the ED has a limited window to qualify for consolidation. Private refinancing is when you borrow a new loan to pay off your federal student loan. While well-qualified borrowers may be able to get a private loan with low interest rates and favorable terms, borrowers with a defaulted federal loan are unlikely to be considered well-qualified. Applying with a co-signer may help a struggling borrower qualify for a low-cost private loan, but it can be difficult to find a willing co-signer. Additionally, refinancing your federal loans with a private loan means losing federal borrower protections. Take the heat off your defaulted student loans The federal government may have restarted involuntary collections of defaulted student loans, but that doesnt mean youre doomed to see your wages, tax refunds, and Social Security benefits garnished. To start, the Treasury Offset Program just started notifying borrowers of the intent to garnish this week. Borrowers have 65 days to respond before any money is withheld from their payments, meaning there is time to correct a defaulted loan. Even if you have lost or forgotten your servicer information, you can find it by logging onto studentaid.gov, contacting the federal student aid information center, checking your original loan documents, or even looking at your credit report. Once you have found your loan servicer, check your loan balance, interest rate, repayment term, and monthly payment. With that information in hand, contact your servicer to discuss what options are available for returning your loan to good standingincluding income driven repayment, loan discharge, loan rehabilitation, consolidation, or refinancing. The gears of federal student loan collections grind slowlywhich means you can get ahead of them before your wages or Treasury payments are at risk.
Category:
E-Commerce
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