YouTube launches Hype in India: What it is and how it helps small creators grow

YouTube’s Hype feature in India helps small creators gain visibility by letting viewers boost new videos and climb the leaderboard.

YouTube has launched its game-changing Hype feature in India to give small creators a boost in visibility and give them a chance to grow. This move is here to encourage creators from different languages, regions, and genres to reach a new audience. Here is everything about the Hype feature and what you need to know as a creator.

YouTube’s Hype feature helps small creators reach more viewers. (YouTube)

By Amit Rahi

For the past seven years, I have tracked consumer tech through constant shifts in hardware, platforms, and the way people actually use devices. Covering everything from budget gear to flagship hardware, I focus on what readers need to know, not on buzzwords or launch cycle hype. My expertise spans gaming laptops and chairs, high-performance PCs, gaming monitors, printers, smartwatches, earphones, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, tablets, and more, with a particular emphasis on how these products hold up in daily use. Reviews, explainers, buying guides, and news pieces all share the same goal: giving readers enough detail to make confident decisions without wading through fluff. Away from deadlines, I spend a lot of time gaming and watching films and anime, which naturally filters back into the work. Performance, comfort, display quality, and sound are judged the way players and viewers experience them, not just by lab numbers, which keeps my coverage grounded in real scenarios rather than just benchmarks.

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What is the Hype feature?

The Hype feature is designed for creators with 500 to 500,000 subscribers. It gives viewers a new option to Hype the video of an emerging creator. A new Hype button will appear below the video of a qualified channel. Hitting this button will give the video points, which help it reach larger audiences.

Once a video gets Hype, it will accumulate Hype points and move accordingly on a top 100 leaderboard. This leaderboard is available under the Explore tab on YouTube. Notably, YouTube will give bonus points to channels with a smaller subscriber count, giving new creators a critical advantage over bigger and established channels.

Eligibility criteria for YouTube channels

• Creators must be a part of the YouTube Partner Programme and must have 500 to 500,000 subscribers to qualify.
• The Hype feature will automatically be available for eligible channels, with no setup required.
• Videos must be published in the last seven days for viewers to be able to Hype them.

For viewers

• Viewers will see the Hype button just below the Like button; the video must be from a qualifying channel and not more than 7 days old.
• Viewers can tap the Hype button to support a video from a qualifying channel. Users can Hype videos up to three times for free per week.
• Videos Hyped by viewers will get points and climb up the leaderboard, and are more likely to appear in YouTube’s recommendations.

Getting noticed on YouTube isn’t easy, especially for newer creators. Hype will make it easier for fans to support new creators and help them reach a bigger audience.