YouTube recently unveiled a shinier, redder “Subscribe” button in the hopes it would entice more casual viewers to click and become part of a particular channel’s regular viewing audience. Today, the world’s largest video sharing site introduced another subtle, yet significant feature to the very same button that will undoubtedly have at least a marginal positive impact on both YouTube channel subscriptions and view counts.
YouTube just made the “Subscribe” button embeddable.
Before today, the only way in which one could subscribe to a YouTube channel was to visit that channel’s subscription page on YouTube. Now, individuals can become part of a channel’s subscriber base from just about anywhere on the web. Like below.
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There’s nothing particularly innovative about the new future. In fact, it’s something YouTube should’ve implemented long ago. It’s definitely better late than never, however, and will be a useful tool for any content creator, organization, or brand in helping improve online video viewing numbers. But with this new online video marketing power, comes online video responsibility. YouTube warns you not to use the embeddable feature in the following ways:
- You may not offer or promote prizes or rewards of any kind in exchange for clicking on a YouTube Subscribe button.
- Buttons must be fully and clearly visible.
- You may not use a Subscribe Button to track any data about a user related to the user’s actions or browsing activity, including without limitation whether or not a user clicks on a YouTube Subscribe button. This prohibition includes but is not limited to using pixels, cookies, or other methods of recognizing when a user clicks on a YouTube button.
If you have a YouTube channel and are planning to put a “Subscribe” button on your site, be sure to let us know how it goes. We’re eager to see the uptick (if any) in your numbers.
