Google has announced that it is killing off the Annotations Editor tool for adding text annotations in YouTube videos and it is replacing it with a new and improved tool called End Screens and Cards.
From May 2, 2017, users will no longer be able to add new annotations or edit existing annotations with the tool. According to Muli Salem, Product Manager of YouTube in a blog post last week, the change was to help users reach more fans and keep them engaged.
Cards are like interactive annotations that allow content creators to add outside links and images in addition to information. Cards also enable creators to poll their audience, link to merchandise, recommend videos, and more. Like annotations, users can program them to pop up at any time. The most important change however, is perhaps that they make in-video notes from the uploader viewable on mobile devices.
“Adoption of End Screens and Cards has grown; the use of annotations has decreased by over 70 percent. For this reason, the time has come to discontinue Annotations Editor. Effective starting May 2, you will no longer be able to add new or edit existing annotations, only delete them. Existing annotations will continue to show when using a desktop computer,” Salem said.
Annotations Editor was introduced in 2008 before many people took to mobile phones to watch videos. Today, 60 percent of YouTube watch time is done through mobile devices. Many have noted that YouTube annotations editor have felt increasingly out of touch with changing times.
The small text boxes were meant as a way to let creators link to other videos, write in little jokes, and add ancillary information to a video much like a hyperlink or footnote of sorts. Over the years, however, Salem noted that the use of annotation has lost track by 70 percent. In fact more users see it as a distraction.
“End Screens and Cards are more engaging for your viewers: End Screens and Cards generate seven times more clicks across YouTube than annotations. In fact, viewers generally do not love annotations, and on average they close 12 annotations before they click on one of them. And more and more viewers turn off annotations altogether,” Salem said.
End Screens, he further stated, are easier to create. Users can add annotations up to ten times quicker and easier with End Screens. They can also import it from other videos or use dynamic overlays to save themselves even more time.
YouTube has created six card types covering merchandise, fundraising, video links, playlist links, associated websites and fan funding. Creators will see a new “Cards” tab in the video editor where they can set them up, and can view stats for them in YouTube Analytics.
