Youtube at IO 17 Conference: YouTube 360, SuperChats and more

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, took the stage at Google’s IO 17 Conference to proudly announce that YouTube had passed a viewership of 1 Billion hours a day the previous year. She added that while 60% of the viewership comes from mobile devices, watch time for TV’s also escalated at 90% per year. Sarah Ali, Head of Living Room Products, YouTube, announced the launch of TV 360 which allows viewers to watch 360 videos on YouTube Apps for TVs.

Four months ago, YouTube launched SuperChats, a tool that takes creator and audience interaction to the next level. SuperChats allows fans to interact with their favorite YouTube celebrities live stream and pin their comments for an amount.

At the conference, Barbara McDonald announced SuperChats was getting an open Application Programming Interface (API,) that will allow the viewers to automate any action by buying a SuperChat during a live stream. They demonstrated the update live, with the help of The Slo Mo Guys. Barbara McDonald used SuperChats to remotely sound a horn by paying $ 500 – to charity, prompting audience members to pelt them with water balloons.