Insights & Trends

Kids content grew faster than any other YouTube niche in September 2026, and it pays the least. Kids channels with 10,000 to 100,000 subscribers gained a median 1.59% subscribers a month in TubeAI's study of 144,370 channels, yet the niche earns a median $0.33 per 1,000 views in AIR Media-Tech's data from 300 channels. Education and science grow more slowly and pay $10.22.

Since October 1, YouTube has changed which Shorts it recommends. Original videos get more reach, and channels that mostly re-upload other creators' clips get less. Additionally, YouTube is testing a $20 payment threshold and a cleanup option instead of termination for some spam violations, and it now pauses features on channels that appear hacked. US viewers can now save several custom feeds, and the YouTube mobile app got a new Home top bar, and more. Here's what you need to know.

You already have one YouTube channel. Adding a second, a tenth, or a twentieth comes down to who can touch what, and where the money lands. This guide covers the access rules, the shared systems, and the mistakes that actually break multi-channel setups, based on patterns across 3,000+ channels.

YouTube changed something almost every month of 2026, and most of it never touched recommendations. Public views started counting from the first frame. Shorts got custom thumbnails. Only a few YouTube algorithm updates changed which videos get shown to whom, and the latest came on October 1, when the Shorts feed started favoring original videos.