Look Inside a 1,024 Recipe Multivariate Experiment

Do small changes make a big difference? In the world of landing page testing, they certainly can. A few weeks ago, we ran one of the largest multivariate experiments ever: a 1,024 recipe experiment on 100% of our US-English homepage. Utilizing Google Website Optimizer, we made small changes to three sections on our homepage (see below), with the goal of increasing the number of people who signed up for an account. The results were impressive: the new page performed 15.7% better than the original, resulting in thousands more sign-ups and personalized views to the homepage every day.

Below is a screenshot of the homepage before the test and the three sections we focused on:


And here are examples of various fonts, messages, and colors we tested:

Section 1: (The words "Sign Up" were put in all caps)


Section 2: (We placed these bubble messages to the left of the word "Sign Up")


Section 3: (We experimented with these different banners in that area)




Can you guess which combination of elements performed the best?

(humming "Jeopardy" music)

If you guessed the Original "Sign Up" Font (section 1) + Red Bubble "Sign Up" (section 2) + White "Don't Just Watch, Participate" box (section 3), you win!

Winning Page:




While we could have hypothesized which elements result in greater conversions (for example, the color red is more eye-catching), multivariate testing reveals and proves the combinatorial impact of different configurations. Running tests like this also help guide our design process: instead of relying on our own ideas and intuition, you have a big part in steering us in the right direction. In fact, we plan on incorporating many of these elements in future evolutions of our homepage.

Curtis Lee, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "KFC Freestyle Delonte West."

P.S. If you need assistance running tests on your website, there are many Google Website Optimizer authorized consultants who can help. Special thanks to VKI Studios who assisted on ours.

"Just-in-Time" Learning About Flagged Videos

Sometimes it happens. You've read the Community Guidelines, you think you understand the rules, and you upload videos that you believe comply with them. Then one day you receive a message from us informing you that one of your videos has "been disabled for violation of the YouTube Community Guidelines."

"Huh?" you ask yourself. "What's the connection between the Community Guidelines and my video?" Starting today, we'll help answer that question by including tips from the Community Guidelines in the messages we send you if we take down one of your videos.

For example, you post a video that features nudity. When it gets flagged by the YouTube community and removed by our staff, you'll receive this reminder: "Most nudity is not allowed on YouTube, particularly if it is in a sexual context. Videos that are intended to be sexually provocative are also generally not acceptable for YouTube. There are exceptions for some educational, documentary and scientific content, but only if that is the sole purpose of the video and it is not sexually gratuitous."

We think of this as "just-in-time" learning to help you make and upload videos that stay up on the site for the world to see.

Posted by the YouTube Team

Masthead Undergoes Redesign

You may notice something looks a little different about our masthead (top navigational area on the homepage) today, and that's because we've done a bit of housecleaning. We've streamlined and simplified the design to focus on the primary experience of YouTube: watching a video. The left side is dedicated to exploration: finding videos to watch through search and browse. The right side is all about organization of the videos that matter most to you: your subscriptions, your recent viewing history, and your own uploads.

A few features have been removed from this area, to keep it as clean and functional as possible. Unless you have items in your Quicklist or Inbox, they will not appear on the homepage, and the country and language pulldown menus, once at the very top of the page, are now in the footer.

Next up, we'll be focusing on giving you the controls to make the masthead more personalized.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Shiva Rajaraman, Product Manager, recently favorited "Auto-Tune the News #7."

YouTube Gets Smarter on the Small Screen

As more and more people are using the browser on their smartphones for checking email, visiting websites, and even accessing YouTube, we want to make sure that we provide the best possible YouTube experience on your mobile browser. Today we released a new mobile website specifically designed to access YouTube on smartphones with capable browsers; phones like the iPhone, G1 and Palm Pre.

Just visit youtube.comfrom your mobile phone, and you'll be taken to a new website specially designed for your device. You can log into your account, view your favorites, and discover and share new videos quickly and easily with whoever you choose. It's part of our mission to create the best possible YouTube experience for you, whether you use the site on your computer, in your living room, or on the go.

Dwipal Desai, Product Manager, recently watched "iPhone 3GS dropped in the pool. Still works!"

Behind the Scenes at the Sundance Directors Lab

Reservoir Dogs, Requiem for a Dream, and Half Nelson topped critics' lists when they came out, but before they achieved this recognition, they were all workshopped at the Sundance Directors Lab. Since its inception, the world's most famous film workshop has always occurred behind closed doors... until now.

Today, we're proud to present, in partnership with the Sundance Institute and sponsored by Honda, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Directors Lab in the YouTube Screening Room. To start, we'll follow three up-and-coming auteurs as they strive to transform their dream projects from vision to reality. From a first-time filmmaker learning the process to a director trying to make a comedy about Osama bin Laden, there's something here for everyone who's ever wondered about how films are made.




Stay tuned, because in two weeks we've got four more videos featuring exclusive footage of life at the Lab.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched the trailer for "The September Issue."

Local News on YouTube

News is nothing without context, and video is no exception. Helping you discover and watch news videos that are relevant to the stories of the day or to the issues unfolding in your neighborhood is one of our big goals when it comes to YouTube News & Politics. That's why we developed a "News Near You" module on our news page to surface videos from local news partners in your area.

As the New York Times also reported earlier today, "News Near You" surfaces news videos from partners within a 100 mile radius of your computer's IP address. Go to youtube.com/news and check it out: if there are local news videos near you, the module will appear about halfway down the page. If you don't see anything, you can be sure we're working to bring local news partners to you soon. Already we've seen great click-through rates on the videos that are surfacing in this section -- which shouldn't come as a surprise, since these clips are relevant to what's happening in your vicinity.

Beyond reaching local viewers, just having these news clips on YouTube means that they can reach a global audience. For example, a video of a police encounter with a pit bull might intrigue folks far from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where WXII-TV uploaded this video. And a story about a woman giving birth on her bathroom floor is likely to interest more people than just the Nashua, New Hampshire, residents who saw this WMUR-TV clip:



So if you're a local news publisher, we'd love to include you our "News Near You" section. (This post from our partner and advertiser blog will tell you how.) And if you're a citizen who's reporting on the news in your neighborhood, check out the YouTube Reporters' Center to connect with us and share your videos.

Steve Grove, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched "Jumping Spiders Courting."

Trend: Alternate Channels for Charity

Tough economic times haven't stopped some of YouTube's most recognizable faces from giving back to organizations they care about; many YouTube partners are donating time and money to ensure that nonprofits thrive during the recession.

For example, KevJumba and HappySlip each set up alternate accounts and have vowed to donate all of the proceeds from these accounts to charity. KevJumba announced his charity channel, JumbaFund, on May 1 of this year, noting that each month his subscribers would get to vote for the charity that deserved the month's earnings. He has made good on his word: in the month of May, 43,000 users voted that the month's earnings of $1,708.51 should be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, and Kev followed through. In June, acknowledging the swell of user interest around Michael Jackson's death, he donated $1,432.71 to one of Jackson's favorite charities, the End Hunger Network.

Taking KevJumba's cue, HappySlip announced that she would donate all of the earnings from her alternate channel, ChristineGambito, to Operation Smile.

Other YouTube partners, like LisaNova, iJustine and the Vlogbrothers, are making a difference in another way. They're donating their time and skills to nonprofits in need by creating videos for them through YouTube Video Volunteers, a new program that connects skilled video-makers with nonprofits who need a little help in the realm of video production. For example, see the video that Vlogbrother John Green just created about the Book Wish Foundation, a nonprofit that provides books and reading lights to refugees:




Giving back on YouTube isn't just limited to YouTube partners -- you can do good now by taking part in Video Volunteers or by encouraging others to donate to a worthy cause. Let us know how you're helping in the comments below. We'd love to help you broadcast your cause...and your video-making skills.

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube Nonprofits & Activism, recently watched "Burning Bananas."