YouTube is removing its Trending page and Trending Now list in favor of category-specific charts, the company announced on Thursday. With this change, YouTube is moving away from the single, all-encompassing list for trending content to now just displaying the most popular content in specific categories on YouTube Charts.
The platform says the update better aligns with the way trending content is discovered today, noting that when the Trending page launched in 2015, it was a lot simpler to capture viral videos that everyone was talking about with a singular list.
The new category-specific charts include Trending Music Videos, Weekly Top Podcast Shows, and Trending Movie Trailers. YouTube plans to add more content categories in the future.
“Along with highlighting popular content in charts, we’ll keep showing viewers the videos that we think they’ll love through personalized recommendations,” the company explained in a blog post. “This way, we can show a wider range of popular content that’s relevant, and it feels more natural to how viewers already find new videos.”
Viewers can browse non-personalized content through the Explore menu, creator channels, and their subscriptions feed.
YouTube says it’s making the change because trends are shaped by many different videos created by diverse fandoms, leading to more micro-trends than ever before.
Plus, YouTube notes that viewers are finding trends through various places across the platform, including recommendations, search, and comments. In the past, people would discover trending content to watch through the Trending tab, but now they’re being fed content through personalized algorithmic recommendations. These shifts have led to decreased visits to the Trending page, especially over the last five years, YouTube says.
It makes sense for the company to adapt to evolving viewer habits, especially since the platform has transformed quite a bit over the past decade. Back in 2015, YouTube was mainly seen as a place for amateur videos. Today, it’s home to professional long-form (and short-form) content from independent creators and established media outlets, all competing for a share of advertising revenue.
The company says it’s still focused on giving creators tools to determine what’s popular with their audiences.
“The Inspiration Tab in YouTube Studio will keep giving creators personalized ideas to help them spot the next big thing for their channel,” YouTube wrote in the blog post. “We’re also creating new ways to give up-and-coming creators a boost and help them get discovered, like our “Hype” feature that lets viewers amplify fresh videos they love.”
YouTube will also shout out Creators on the Rise on its official @YouTube social media and YouTube channel.
The changes announced Thursday will take effect in the next couple of weeks.
